Justified Means
by Spectre-058
Summary: Restored to life by Cerberus, Commander Shepard attempts to salvage his plans to stop the Reapers, survive whatever Cerberus has planned for him, and build a harem of beautiful lovers. Takes place during Mass Effect 2 and is the first in a three book series that will conclude with the Reaper War.
1. Prologue

"Shepard did everything right, more than we could have hoped for, saving the Citadel, but leaving the Council to die. Humanity's place in the galaxy is stronger than ever and still it's not enough." The woman standing next to the expansive viewport shifted her attention away from the swirling colors. Her dark silhouette against the roiling gases accentuating the absolute perfection of her body. She turned her attention to the man seated behind her, his face concealed by a wall of computer displays.

"Humanity may control the council, but Shepard still remains our first priority." As he spoke, the man's face was briefly illuminated by the glowing tip of his cigarette.

"They are sending him to fight the Geth. Geth!" Scorn was evident in the woman's voice as she stepped through the first layer of displays around the man's chair. "We both know they aren't a real threat."

She stopped as she cleared the second layer, pausing to brush invisible dust off of her white body suit. "The Reapers are still out there."

The seated man tapped ash off the tip of his cigarette before returning it to his lips. "And it's up to us to stop them."

Miranda Lawson scoffed, "The council will never trust Cerberus. They will never accept our help. Even after everything Humanity has accomplished." Her voice took on a musing quality and she turned to regard one of the holographic windows. "But Shepard, he might be willing to listen. The council respects him. He's a hero, a bloody icon."

The display showed a video from the Battle of the Citadel. Commander Shepard led his team in a desperate battle with Saren at the very center of the Council chamber. She reached out and tapped a control, and the video shifted to news coverage of Shepard being honored by the new council. "But, if we can't get him, we lose. If we lose, humanity might well follow."

The Illusive Man tapped out his cigarette and finally looked at his chief lieutenant. "Then you will have to make sure we get him."

Miranda returned her attention to the man. "Any suggestions on how I accomplish that? His recent run-ins with Cerberus may have poisoned him against us."

The Illusive Man's voice held just the slightest hint of rebuke as he spoke. "You have read the reports, what do you think is the best way?"

She sighed and she started to rattle off information in the tone of a bored student asked to present to the class. "His psych evaluations indicate that he has a well-established hero complex, as well as borderline sociopathy. His actions during the hunt for Saren seem to support these conclusions. On the surface he seems reckless and brash, but further examinations of his tactics show underlying reason and an unusually keen grasp of strategy. Video footage proves that he is absolutely ruthless in a fight. . His actions on Virmire prove he is willing to sacrifice assets in order to complete his mission." Her voice took on a hesitant note, "Those are his upsides."

Miranda's brow furrowed as she pulled up more information on her data pad. "Shepard is strong willed, and the emotional detachment that makes him such a good soldier is also linked to a superiority complex. Reports from his time in the N7 training program suggest that he is capable of following orders that will better him, but does not hesitate to ignore or misinterpret the orders he does not like. While normally this sort of behavior would make him an ideal candidate for Cerberus, Shepard is beyond even men like operative Taylor. His reluctance to follow orders stems from the fact that he truly believes that he is going to be the next great human hero. What's more, is he has the charisma to convince other of it. Half of the admiralty is already eating out of his hand, and his entire crew is fiercely loyal to him, personally. I fear that any assets we placed under his command would be at severe risk of defection in a short time. But," and here she stopped to give the Illusive Man a frank look, "you already know all of this and want me to recruit him anyway."

The seated man gave the barest indication of a smile. "True. Your concerns are valid, but we can overcome them. We will assign him assets who are already on the edge of our organization, ones who are with us in principle if not in heart. Their defection would be no great loss. So again, how would you recruit him?"

Miranda was a moment in answering, her attention locked on the swirling mass of colors visible through the windows. "According to both his file, and the man we have on the Normandy, Shepard does have one vice we can exploit. Shepard is a known womanizer, with records going back as far as his days in school when he allegedly had an affair with two of his teachers, at the same time. According to our source, Shepard took time out of his hunt for Saren to seduce both Gunnery Chief Williams and the asari, Liara T'Soni. It is a known and exploitable weakness and it is where I would focus my attention. I would set up some situation on a planet along the Normandy's patrol route, place one of our agents, into a position where she would need saving, and then let Shepard do his thing. Once she is onboard the Normandy, she can work her way into Shepard's confidence and begin to edge him towards our cause."

The Illusive Man took a drag on his cigarette. "Who would you choose for our damsel in distress?"

"Kelly Chambers. She has extensive psychological training, is cleared for field work, and has just the right sort of..." She trailed off at the Illusive Man's raised hand.

"No." The declaration was eloquent in its simplicity. "It will be you. As you have already pointed out Shepard is incredibly charismatic, you have the strength of will and dedication to withstand him, Miss Chambers does not."

"Sir, I have to disagree. You can't really expect me to, to…" She spluttered for a second. "To whore myself out to this megalomaniac."

The Illusive Man's voice held only the faintest hint of rebuke. "I expect you to complete your mission. Shepard's cooperation will be integral to our ability to combat the Reaper's when they arrive. Your plan is solid Miranda. With you onboard the Normandy I have every confidence that Shepard will make the correct choices when the time comes. How you go about converting him will of course be up to you. I have supreme confidence in your abilities and your judgement. Now, you have your orders Operative Lawson, follow them."

Her eyes blazing with a cold fury she nodded to him, turned, and stalked out of the command center. She had a mission to organize, and Shepard had better be fucking worth it.

* * *

I sat on the edge of my bed and idly skimmed through intelligence reports but nothing looked promising. I had brought the Normandy here in hopes of finding the Geth fleet that had been on the run since I had smashed them at the Citadel and killed the Reaper Sovereign. That had been a month ago though, and since then we had seen next to no action and I was beginning to get frustrated. The attack on the Citadel had killed the council and rocked galactic society to the core. I should be back there, putting things back together, building my power base, getting ready for when the rest of the Reapers showed up. Instead I was out on the edge of the Terminus system following up on reports of missing ships. Missing fucking ships. I had saved the entire fucking galaxy and now I was looking for lost merchants. A low growl escaped my throat as I contemplated the injustice of it.

In the bed beside me Liara stirred in response to the noise. She shifted restlessly and moved a little bit towards me, arms questing feebly. That had, I reflected, been the one upside of the last few weeks. Without the threat of galactic extinction hanging over us I had been able to devote time to other, more pleasurable, pursuits. When her arms found nothing, Liara sat up, blinking sleepily. The blankets fell away as she rose revealing her naked chest. She stretched, reaching both arms over her head and I reveled in the way the motion put her beautiful breasts on display. The sight was far more interesting than the useless intelligence reports and I let the pad slide out of my fingers. As it clattered to the floor I leaned over and kissed her. Her lips were soft, sweet and had a pleasant exotic taste which I could not describe. She kissed me back, mouth opening slightly so she could brush her tongue across my lips. After several moments she broke the kiss.

"Good morning Commander." She purred, sleep making her voice slightly muzzy.

"Good morning to you as well doctor. Sleep well?"

Her eyes grew hooded and a contented little smile spread her lips. "Oh, fairly well, when we actually got to sleep." Her eyes flicked over the bed. "Ash already leave?"

It was my turn to smile. "She had an early watch."

"A pity." Her voice took on a sultry note, "I had an idea."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Really? We could probably manage without her."

She gave me a teasing little smile and shook her head. "Afraid not commander, it really needs at least two women."

Liara continued to surprise me. When we'd first met she had struck me as innocent, almost naïve. She had seemed, not quite weak, but fragile, and unused to the kind of life I lived. As we had traveled together I had come to realize that I was wrong. Under her school-girl exterior, she was one of the strongest and most personally driven people I had ever met. And when we started sleeping together I'd realized that while she might have been inexperienced, she certainly wasn't innocent. Liara had a delightfully wicked imagination and a curiosity to match. She had taken well to being one of my lovers and had even offered several useful suggestions on how to convince Ashley to join us. That had been a memorable night. Those memories sparked memories of other nights and need swelled up inside me.

"Indulge me." I growled, pulling her a little bit closer to me. She let out a little giggle and pressed herself against me, our lips meeting again. Her breasts were warm against my naked chest and the feel of them sent a jolt of need through me. She slid one hand down my chest and began to massage my cock through my pants. I started to play my own hand in circles across the smooth skin of her belly. The kisses became hungrier and her thumb hooked against the top button of my pants, popping it open.  
And then the fucking intercom crackled to life.

"Commander. Sorry to disturb you sir, but long range sensors are picking an unidentified cruiser. You may want to join us on the bridge." Presley's voice was an infuriating interruption and I seriously considered having the useless man thrown out the airlock. Instead, I reluctantly broke the kiss and turned to slap the activation switch on the nightstand.

"Thank you XO, tell Joker to maintain the stealth systems and move us in close enough to ID them, I will be there shortly." I was pretty sure I managed to keep the resentment and homicidal urges from my voice. I looked back at Liara, and instantly regretted doing so.

She had shifted her position and was now leaning over my exposed and fully erect penis. She idly stroked it as she pouted. "Are you sure you have to go?"

The feel of her fingers on my shaft was incredible and my dick screamed at me to ignore my responsibilities. It was very actively voting that I say here and get creative with Liara. Normally I am in better control of it, but she had started to swirl her hand along my length, giving the head a little kiss every time her hand left it, and I was not thinking as clearly as I could. Presley could probably handle whatever this unidentified ship was couldn't he?

From the ground where it had landed the data pad beeped, signaling receipt of yet another of the useless intelligence reports. With a sigh I pushed Liara away.

"Duty calls sweet thing." I rose. "This is the first contact we have had in a week and the crew will expect to see me." A thought crossed my mind and I snapped my fingers.

"Be a dear, go tell Ashley to ready a boarding party. If this just turns out to be pirates or slavers I want to see if we can't figure out where they are coming from. We will need a few of them alive to do that." Liara let out a little sigh of her own and gave me another pouting look.

"If it turns out to be nothing." I continued, moving my mouth next to her ear and letting my voice get deeper. "I expect to see both of you in here for a private debriefing." Her pout vanished and she gave me a swift kiss on the lips, then leaned down and took me into her mouth. She gave my dick one full stroke, down and back, the stood up and winked at me. "Till later then."

It was down to business after that and we dressed quickly. Liara gave me one more kiss before slipping out of the room to find Ash. I finished the last few adjustments on my armor and mused on the direction my life had taken. Barely a month ago I had saved the galaxy from probably the largest threat it had ever faced, catapulting humanity to a place of unprecedented galactic power. I was probably the most famous spectre and Alliance officer; and to top it off I had two exquisite women with me while I continued to grow my legend by hunting down the remaining Geth. There was an award ceremony scheduled for after this patrol cruise was done, where representative from each of the council races would bestow their highest honors upon me. Additionally, I was sure the Alliance would promote me to Captain, giving me access to more resources and influence. Tools I would need in the days to come. The Reaper I had killed, Sovereign, was just the first of many. They would be a threat to anything I tried to build and so they would have to be destroyed. To do that I would need influence and power, both of which it looked like were quickly headed my way.

The blare of the Normandy's alarms shattered my musings. The alarms were followed almost immediately by Joker's strained voice. "Brace for evasive maneuvers!"

I braced myself as the deck beneath me bucked. What the hell was Joker doing? I pulled myself through the door and started towards the stairs up when an explosion rocked the ship the other direction. I lurched, this time stumbling several steps before regaining control. What the fuck? Had somebody just shot my ship? That was supposed to be impossible, we were stealthed, nobody should have been able to see us at this range. The cool emotionless voice of the Normandy's VI sounded over the loud speakers. " _Kinetic barriers are down. Multiple hull breaches. Weapons are offline. Estimated time to total depressurization, 5 minutes."_

Changing direction I sprinted towards the emergency beacon near the cryogenic storage pods, stumbling again as another shot ripped into the Normandy. Who the fuck was shooting MY ship? Fires burst to life as systems overloaded. I slapped my hand down on the emergency transponder button on the console.

"This is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. We are under attack by unknown enemies and need immediate assistance. Any Alliance vessels in the vicinity please respond immediately." It galled me to have to ask for help, but this wasn't my fault. Whoever these enemies were, they were blowing a ridiculous number of holes in my ship despite the stealth systems. If they could see through those systems well enough to target us then their tech was too advanced by half. The important thing right now was to survive, regroup, and come back and show these assholes what happened to people who crossed me. The hull shook as yet another hit slammed home and I released the record button. I had been carrying my helmet and at the VI's continued warning of depressurization I put it on.

"Shepard!" Ashley's voice was strained with tightly leashed fear, and an underling hint of desperate worry, and it was coming for directly behind me.

"Distress beacon is ready." I said as I turned, my voice as controlled and confident as I could make it. The leader of the Normandy's marines stood just a few feet behind me, sealing her own helmet.

"Will the Alliance get here in time?" As if in response to her question a nearby control panel exploded, buffeting her towards the cryogenic pods. She reached out and caught herself in time to avoid losing her feet. The emergency beacon shorted out at same time. I lunged for a nearby fire extinguisher, cursing under my breath.

"I'm not doing this just so they can find our frozen corpses." I snarled, "Get everyone onto the escape shuttles." I tossed her the extinguisher and wrenched open an electrical panel.

"Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship. I'm not leaving either." Damn it! I did not have time for this. I had worked hard to instill this sort of dedication in Ashley, it was part of why she had finally agreed to join Liara and I, but sometimes it made her sense of duty and loyalty get in the way of my orders. The station flickered back to life as I rerouted power and I slammed the panel shut. I surged towards Ashley, putting a hand on her arm, turning her to face me.

"I need to you get the crew onto the evac shuttles. I'll take care of Joker." Without waiting for a response I turned back towards the emergency beacon, just in time for the fucking console to explode. I swore as I stumbled back.

"Commander…" The uncertainty in Ashley's voice was actually sort of touching. It was reassuring to know she was willing to stay with me even now. I reached up to a power cable that had disconnected, looking at her as I did. I instilled my voice with every ounce of command and authority I could muster.

"Ashley. Go. Now." She hesitated for just a moment longer, and then took off, running towards the nearest group of crewmen. She would do her best to get them off the ship. I was glad she had listened, replacing her would have been annoying.  
I reconnected the power cable and the holographic console reappeared. I slammed my hand down onto the activation symbol, finally sending out the distress beacon. As the display flashed green I began to hear the hollow thumps of the escape pods jettisoning. A grim little smile crossed my face as I sprinted for the stairs to the CIC.

The place was a mess. Half of the room was actively open to space, with chairs and control consoles floating around the extremely weak artificial gravity. At the far end, across the flickering remnants of the galaxy map, I could just make out the translucent sheen of the cockpits kinetic barrier keeping the atmosphere in. The walk across the ruins took a subjective eternity, but it gave me the chance to get my first look at my attackers. The enemy ship flashed by the hole for only a moment, but I had the distinct impression of a semi smooth, semi organic hull, and then they were past entirely, and, for the moment it seemed, out of their firing arc.

I felt it when as I passed through the protective barrier around the cockpit and the weight of atmosphere was a welcome relief. To my left, Presley's body lay slumped against the wall, half of his face a ruined and melted mess. On my right an ensign whose name I couldn't remember lay slightly blocking my path. And directly before me, still desperately trying to save the ship was Joker. The pilot had activated his flight caps emergency survival screen and his arms and fingers danced across controls trying every trick he knew to hold the Normandy together. It wasn't working another explosion rocked the deck, and I put a hand against the back of the pilots chair to steady myself.

"Come on, Joker! We have to get out of here!"

The normally jolly pilot's face was a mask of grim determination. "No! I won't abandon the Normandy. I can still save her."

Normally I considered the level of emotional attachment that Joker felt to the ship an asset, but right now it was a liability and I'd be damned if was going to let it get us both killed.

"The Normandy is dead." I said, my voice hard. "Just like us if we don't get the hell out of here!"

"No, we just need to…" What little color was left in Joker's face drained out. "Oh no. They are coming around for another attack!"

Brilliant, gold white light ripped into the remains of the CIC. The cohesive beam of light more powerful and accurate than any weapon in the Alliance arsenal. I had seen its equal only once before, in the devastating attacks the Reaper Sovereign had launched against Citadel fleet. Did that mean that these attacker's and the Reapers were connected?

I pushed that train of thought aside for consideration later and gabbed Joker, dragging him out of his seat.

"Ow, watch the arm." Was Joker really complaining while having his life saved?

I slammed the cockpit escape hatch open and deposited the pilot into the first available seat. I started for my own seat, and abruptly my legs were swept out from under me. An invisible hand had caught hold of me and was dragging me into open space. My arms lashed out and I caught myself on a nearby bulkhead. The tugging sensation continued, and I turned my head to see what was causing it.

That last attack had punched through the remainder of the CIC, effectively cutting the cockpit off from the rest of the ship. We were on emergency power and the shield which had been holding in the atmosphere was quickly dissolving. I looked back at the escape pod only a few feet away, and with a sinking feeling knew I would never make it. Joker looked back at me and I could see the same realization mirrored in the pilot's horrified expression.

Everything slowed down, my mind weighing facts and options. My armor was vacuum sealed and would keep me alive for a few hours, Joker's would not. The Alliance had a few other ships patrolling this region and they should be able to make it here in time to pick me up. Provided that my unknown attackers left me alive long enough for that to happen.

Before I could make a choice, another explosion buffeted me and the environmental shield collapsed. The pressure pulling me into space double and my hands were ripped off of the bulkhead. Making a snap call I slapped the launch button, sending Joker, and my best chance for survival, rocketing out of the disintegrating ship.

I went flying in the opposite direction, out through the remains of my crumbing ship, and into the vast blackness of space. Calling on lessons I had learned during N7 training, I fought down the rising panic, slowing my breathing. I had to do everything I could to conserve oxygen for as long as possible. I got my heart rate under control and willed myself into a meditative state.

Just in time for a piece of debris to slam into my back and rip into one of oxygen hoses. I thrashed about wildly for a moment, trying in vain to re-attach the severed hose. It was useless, the damn thing was in the center of my back. I kept trying, my vision getting darker and darker until finally it went completely black. The last thought that went through my head as I died was: _"Damn, I really should have stayed in bed with Liara."_


	2. Chapter 1

Death was not nearly as permanent as I had been led to believe. I'd woken up in pain, laying on a hospital bed in a lab I didn't recognize with a sexy female voice yelling instructions at me. The next several minutes had been a confusing if not wholly unfamiliar series of fights, punctuated by the occasional respite where people I didn't know tried to explain things to me. We had fought our way to evacuation shuttles and then a women, who I also didn't know, had killed one of the other people I didn't know and then told me the little shit had tried to kill me. The man who hadn't been killed had told me that they worked for Cerberus, and that somebody named The Illusive Man had gone to extreme lengths to ensure that I didn't die. Now I was sitting on a shuttle across from two obviously dangerous people, going to talk to the man in charge of an organization who I had done my level best to cripple the last time I had run into them. All things considered, I thought I was handling this fairly well. Ever since becoming a Spectre my life had been more unusual than normal and I took an odd sense of comfort in the knowledge that things were still weird.

That being said, I had no intention of allowing myself to remain ignorant. It was abundantly clear that I was already into something up to my eyes and I would be damned if I was going to continue to flail about blindly. That meant that the first order of business would be the acquisition of knowledge. With that in mind I turned my attention to the people sitting across from me who were for the moment, my best sources of information.

The first was Jacob Taylor, a fit black man and the first person I had met on the station. Unless I missed my guess he was a former Alliance marine. He was leaning forward in his seat, hands clasped in front of him. His stance and the cast of his face betrayed a nervousness at odds with the rock steady soldier I had seen during the fight to get off the station. He'd been the one to tell me that they worked for Cerberus. My intuition told me that so far he'd been straight with me, but if he really was Cerberus there was no way he could be the Boy Scout he appeared to be. I would need to keep an eye on him, find out what drove him away from the Alliance and see if I couldn't use whatever it was to bring him over to me. My eyes drifted from Jacob to the woman sitting next to him.

Her name was Miranda Lawson and she was probably the single most physically perfect woman I had ever seen. It was if she had been assembled using checklist. Long, shapely legs flowed into full beautiful hips. Her breasts were large, enticing curves straining against the white jumpsuit she wore. She had lead hard muscles, the kind dancers, gymnasts and top tier Special Forces get. Midnight hair cascaded past her shoulders, curling slightly. Her face was an exquisite blend of strength and beauty, with full lips, and dark intelligent eyes. She leaned back casually in her seat, one strong leg crossed over the other, body relaxed in a show of casual confidence. I had the distinct impression that Miranda was not a woman to be taken lightly. She had acted decisively back on the station, executing the man who she claimed was a traitor without hesitation. It had been clear from that moment that she was a very powerful, very dangerous woman, and that excited me. I wanted to pit myself against her, challenge that power and see what happened.

My mind treated me to the image of Miranda on her back, suit open, breasts exposed and gleaming with sweat. I saw her back arch, body moving in time to my own, I could almost feel her soft skin as I cupped one breast and let my thumb play over the nipple. My dick began to grow hard at the image and to my own surprise I found my body tensing to shove out of my seat. I shook my head trying to clear it. Now was not the time to indulge those urges. My body disagreed, insisting that it had been far too long since it had been allowed to sate itself. That made sense, if these two were to be believed, then it had been almost two years since I had "died:, which was easily my longest dry spell. That didn't matter though, I told myself sternly, now was not the time to be distracted by those inviting lips, or the sensuous curve of her hips, or her full… goddamn it, what the fuck was wrong with me.  
I closed my eyes, I did not have fucking time for this. I was alone and presumed dead. I had no allies, no resources, and no idea where this shuttle was taking me. Any action at this point would be premature and unlikely to help me. There would be plenty of time to sate myself once I had regained some semblance of control in my life. I focused on that and used it to reign in my libido. When I felt I could control myself again I looked back up at Miranda. She was staring back at me with an intense expression and her lips were moving.

"…tests."

I gave an embarrassed smile and put a little self-deprecation into my voice. "I am sorry, I sorta drifted off there for a moment. Still waking up I guess."  
Miranda gave me a steady look, her expression unamused, and then turned a glare on Jacob. "See, obviously he does need some help." Her attention shifted back to me. "Commander, we are going to ask you some questions, please tell us the first answer that comes to your mind."

I shifted my smile from embarrassed to charming and I spread my hands out in front of me.

"Certainly, ask away."

Miranda gestured to Jacob who pulled up information on his Omni-tool.

"Let's start with some personal history. Records show that you grew up on Earth. Tough environment. No parents. You enlisted to get off the streets."

He was right, it had been hard. My parents had died early enough that I didn't have any memories of them. I'd had a foster family, but they had been a joke. I spent most of my time either at school, or on the streets. School had taught me what was expected of me, how to work well in society. The streets had taught me what lay under society, the raw lessons of power and influence that society was built on. It had been a hard life, but one that had made me into the man I was now. I nodded.

Jacob continued, "During the Skyllian Blitz you held out single-handed against a vastly superior force and were awarded the Star of Terra for your bravery."

That had been one hell of a fight. Outnumbered, out gunned, and officially not even supposed to be there, I'd charged a Batarian unit that had broken through the defensive line. I had killed seventeen of them before they broke and reinforcements arrived to seal the breach. That had been the first time I was really recognized for who I was publicly. I gave Jacob an open look and faked an embarrassed smile.

"There were people counting on me. I did what any good soldier would have."

Jacob looked at Miranda. "I read the reports, Shepard fought as well today as he did then. Satisfied?"

Miranda's face remained blank, giving me nothing. "Almost. Let's try something more recent. During your assault on Saren's cloning facility on Virmire you had to leave one of your squad behind to complete the mission. Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was killed in action. It was your call. Why did you leave him behind?"

 _Because you wanted to fuck Ashley_ , a little voice in my head whispered. I ignored it.

"Kaidan was helping the Salarian recon team, Ashley was guarding the munitions charge. If she had been overrun than the whole mission would have been a waste. I made the call that ensured the mission's success. Kaidan Alenko died fighting, without his sacrifice I might not have been able to stop Saren in time. He was a hero."

Jacob put his hands up in a placating gesture, obviously thinking they had struck a nerve. "We aren't questioning your decision Commander. Everyone at Cerberus knows that cloning facility had to be destroyed."

Miranda's face remained impassive. Damn she was hard to read. "One more question. After the Alliance fleet destroyed Sovereign, what happened?"

"The council died when the Destiny Ascension was lost. In the aftermath of the battle, I encouraged Councilor Udina to rebuild the council, this time with humanity in a leading role." I spent a moment idly wondered what Udina had been doing since my death and what preparations, if any, the little worm had made to deal with the Reapers.

That answer seemed to satisfy them. Miranda made some noise about running additional tests, but Jacob protested and she let it drop. It was a golden opportunity for me to ask a few questions of my own, and I jumped on it.  
"You say I have been dead for two years now. What happened? The last thing I remember was the Normandy being shot to pieces and then going extra vehicular. Did my crew survive? Did anybody get the bastards who killed me?"  
Miranda looked to Jacob, but he held his hands up, clearly letting her handle this one. She sighed and looked back at me.

"Your ship was attacked by an unknown assailant. By the time the SSV San Francisco arrived on scene the Normandy was in her death throes. The San Francisco moved to engage but your attackers fled before battle could be joined. They picked up the survivors from the Normandy and spent hours searching for your corpse, but never found it; eventually you were declared KIA. The ship that attacked you has not been seen since. Most of your crew and all of your squad survived. Cerberus has been keeping track of most of them and the Illusive Man will have more information for you."

I took a moment to digest that. After everything I had done for the Alliance, for humanity, when I had needed them they had abandoned me. A small, rational, part of my brain tried to argue that they surely had done the best that they could, but the growing ball of anger in my gut incinerated that rational little voice. I had fought, bled, and apparently, died, for the Alliance, and the best they could do was a few fucking hours? These were the people I had dedicated my life to, I deserved better from them. I had spent most of my adult life trying to be the perfect soldier, and this was how they repaid me? I felt empty, momentarily drained of purpose.

That news also forced me to mentally reexamine my options. Before now my plan had been to bide my time, contact the Alliance at the first opportunity, and arrange for pick up. I had been sure they would have jumped, rushing support to me in a second. Now what though? Without the support of the Alliance my resources were limited. I hadn't completely lost touch with my roots on the streets, I still had assets scattered around, but it was not as much as I would like. Miranda had said my crew had gotten off of the Normandy, meaning I still had potential allies. If I reached out, some of them would certainly return. Liara was still mine, I was sure of that, I could count on her; but who else?  
Ashley? We had grown close, and she certainly seemed to enjoy the time we had spent together, but she was also Alliance and I wasn't sure that she would side with me over them after all this time. Garrus maybe? The Turian had been a close ally and I was pretty sure I could convince the former C-Sec officer to rejoin me if I could find him. Wrex had been a mercenary, but when push had come to shove on Virmire he had trusted to my judgment, he would probably come back too. That left Tali. She I wasn't sure about. Her loyalty had always clearly rested with her people, but I might be able to convince her to at least throw some help my way. And what about the Normandy's crew? What about Joker? Chakwas? They were Alliance officers and therefore probably lost to me if I didn't go back to them.

The next question was what did I do once I had allies? I could contact the Alliance, tell them I had been resurrected by a shadowy terrorist organization, and demand to be reinstated as an officer. That was unfucking likely. Anger and contempt boiled in my chest; the Alliance had made their stance clear when they had failed to find my body. I had been a useful tool, no more. This might be better anyway. There had always been red tape to jump through within the military structure, commander officers to convince or circumvent; it made getting anything done far more difficult than it should be. I smirked, really the universe had done me at least one favor by killing me.

I had other options anyway. I was still a Spectre, I could go to the council. With their assistance I was sure I would be able to recover faster than on my own, but would it be enough? Going back to them would mean going back into the spotlight. The Alliance would want to detain me for questioning and I had already lost so much time. Two years of preparation, planning, and building would have to be made up for.

That pissed me off. I'd had plans, some of which I had shared with Liara and Ashley, for how we could begin to prepare for the inevitable invasion of the Reapers. The loss of all that time would be devastating to those plans. By this point I had hoped to have developed enough of a reputation within the galactic community that I would have been able to start to impact policy. That would be impossible now, especially if I was unable to come forward about the details of my resurrection. In addition to that, working with the council was little better than the Alliance. I had greater freedom true, but I was still beholden to their rules. No, for now I was better off staying independent and underground.  
Fine, if that's how it was though, that's how it was. I could rebuild what I had lost, it would just take a little more work. My first step was to contact my old allies, they could give me a clearer picture of what was going on. After that I could start planning in earnest, start making preparations to deal with the Reapers when they showed up. Which brought another question to mind.

"What has been done to prepare for the Reapers since I died?"

Miranda and Jacob exchanged uncomfortable looks and Miranda said. "The Illusive Man will want to discuss that with you."

As she spoke, a quiet little tremor ran through the shuttle; we had reverted to real space. Out the window I saw a space station. It was large, big enough to be a dry dock of some sort. The shuttle's autopilot guided us into a hanger and we landed with a soft thump.

Miranda stood up. "Well, we are here, the Illusive Man should have more answers for you. If you will follow me."

She was silent as we walked, and in the first room we passed Jacob excused himself and took a seat at a computer station. For my part I was content to follow Miranda, her jumpsuit did just as a good job showing off her ass as it had her tits. Despite the pleasant distraction of her swaying hips though I made sure to keep close track of where she was leading me. If I wanted to leave in a hurry it would be best to know the way out.

Miranda led me down a staircase and stopped next to a closed door. She gave me a look I couldn't quite decipher and motioned for me to continue. The door slid open as I got closer and I stepped into a dark room. As the door shut behind me a circle of light began to glow directly in front of me. So this would be a holographic conversation. I stepped into the circle and waited patiently as the software started up.

The man who appeared in front of me radiated confidence. Sitting comfortably somewhere between 40 and 60, he was a fit, powerful man wearing a suit that probably cost about as much as my combat armor. His eyes glowed slightly and I was uncomfortably reminded of the husks I had fought. He was seated, one leg draped casually across the other, obviously completely relaxed.

"Commander Shepard." He drawled. "Glad to see you are awake. Ready to get back to work?"

His rich voice was smooth, confident, and annoying. He projected an air of supreme confidence and self-control. His appearance and casual attitude were, I was sure, calculated to tell me that this was the man in charge. Even the way he sat, relaxed while I stood was a power play. Everything about him said, I am better than you. I know more than you. I have the power here, you do not. It was an old technique intended to put me off balance, and god damn it, it was working. I was too aware of my own weaknesses and lack of options right now to risk doing anything and he knew it. That pissed me off. I was Commander Shepard damn it, I was the one who was supposed to be in his place. I kept the frustration and irritation from my voice as I greeted him in turn.

"The Illusive Man I presume. I hear I have you to thank for saving my life. Should I be expecting a bill?"

He waved a hand in a negligent throwing away gesture. "No need. It was money well spent."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? From what I hear I cost you a fortune. I presume you have reason?"

He gave me a precise little smile. "I do indeed Shepard. You and I are going to save the universe."

I blinked at him. As far as introductions went that was a little dramatic wasn't it? "Excuse me?"

The Illusive Man's knowing little smile deepened. "I didn't spent two years and billions of credits bringing you back to serve as a common soldier. I saved you because you have personal experience fighting the Reapers. You and I both know they are coming, even if those shorted sighted idiots in the Citadel and the Alliance have chosen to ignore the threat."

"I thought Cerberus only cared about humanity?"

The Illusive Man made a disapproving noise, as if I was favored student who had asked a particularly dense question. "Come now Commander, humanity is part of the galactic community. In order for us to prosper there has to be a community to prosper in. The Reapers are a threat to everybody. If the Alliance and the Council aren't going to do anything about it, then I will."

That hit home. I had been holding out hope that other people had been making preparations without me. It seems like the Alliance had not only let me die, but they had also ignored my warnings. I felt the anger beginning to build again. I kept a lid on it as I asked my next question. "What do you have in mind for me then?"

He took a drag of his cigarette, drawing the moment out, "While you've been sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. No survivors, no evidence of a battle, just gone. My instinct tells me that this has something to do with the Reapers and I want you to investigate. You have spoken to one, you might see something somebody else didn't. I have a shuttle standing by, ready to take you to Freedom's Progress, the latest colony to be hit. I would like you to go there Shepard, find out what is going on, and then you can decide for yourself if you are with me or not."

"And if I say no?" I didn't really have any intention of doing so, but I wanted to see what his response would be.

"You are under no obligations to stay here. You are free to leave if that is what you wish, but I assure you, Cerberus is the only group that has been taking the Reaper threat seriously. If you leave, I cannot promise you will find assistance elsewhere."  
I doubted highly that the Illusive Man would simply let me go. He had funneled billions of credits into my recovery, and nobody just lets that kind of investment walk away. However, despite myself I was intrigued by what he had to say. I would need time to find out where I could most effectively assert myself anyway. Might as well be doing something while I did.

My anger, frustration, and confusion I had felt since waking up latched onto that idea and I locked gazes with the man who was offering me a chance to get back into the fight. I would never trust him; and I was sure that he had no intention of trusting me, but for the moment, that was fine. Our probable confrontation was in the future, and right now there was work to do. "What are we waiting for then? Let's get started."


	3. Chapter 2

The doors in front of me slid close. As the elevator started to descend, I mentally reviewed the progress I'd made since being revived the week before.

First, we'd already managed to identify the group responsible for the abduction of the human colonies, the Collectors. Like most of the galaxy I had thought the Collectors a myth, one of the boogie men that always cropped up, like the sirens of Earth, or the Reavers; stories to tell one and other in bars or when you got home. Everyone knew somebody who claimed to know somebody who had seen one but nobody actually believed them. Well, I believed them now and I had the security footage to prove it. It was nice to have a confirmed target to be going after, even if it was such a nebulous one. But that was only one of the benefits from that mission.

The second was, in my opinion, almost as important as discovering who I was fighting. While exploring Freedoms Progress I had reconnected with Tali. The Quarian woman had been leading a team of her people in the recovery of a young Quarian named Veetor. He had been the one to furnish us with the video of the collectors, and I had returned him to his people in gratitude. While waiting for our extraction shuttle I had the chance to take Tali aside under the pretense of reconnecting. I'd asked her to come with me but she had declined. She had obligations and duties to her people, I could respect that, even if I didn't like it. She'd agreed to reach out to some of the other members of my old team to inform them I was still alive, quietly of course. If, or more likely, when things with Cerberus went to shit, it was good to know I would have backup available to me.

Not that things with Cerberus were looking like falling apart any time soon I had to admit. The elevator made a soft chime as the doors slid open. In front of me a series of expansive windows reminded me yet again of just how much Cerberus had done for me. Apparently while Miranda was overseeing my resurrection, other operatives were busy preparing everything I would need to conduct my mission.

The windows looked out into the hanger bay of a brand new Normandy . Modeled on its namesake, this new stealth frigate had made some impressive upgrades to the previous design; it was bigger, faster, better armed and featured upgraded stealth systems. The ship was a beautiful piece of modern engineering, unfortunately she was crewed almost entirely by Cerberus personnel. While not surprising, it was less than ideal, but I was confident that I would be able to bring most of them around. The Illusive Man had however managed to acquire some of the Nomandy' s old crew, Joker was once again my pilot and Dr. Chakwas had been put in charge of the ship's med bay. It seemed the Alliance, in yet another display of staggering stupidity, had been quietly shutting out my more vocal supporters and both had jumped at the chance to work with me again. The Alliance's loss was my gain though and with Karen and Jeff along for the ride, things had started to feel normal again.

The ship was only the beginning of the preparations Cerberus had made for my return though; and almost as soon as the tour was over, Miranda had presented me with list of potential recruits that had been assembled for me. The Illusive Man apparently understood that I would be uncomfortable leading Cerberus troops into combat and none of the operatives on the list had any overt ties to the organization, not that I was going to take his word for it. I fully intended to check each of these people out myself, which brought my mind back to the reason I was down here; my newest squad member, Jack.

According to the dossier Miranda's people had assembled, she was almost certainly the single most powerful human biotic in existence. She was also a convicted pirate, kidnapper and murderer. When we went to retrieve her she had been incarcerated on the Turian prison ship Purgatory . What was supposed to be a simple exchange of money for Jack had instead turned into a shitstorm when the idiot warden attempted to betray me. I killed the fucker for it, but the real star of the show had been Jack. She had gone through that ship like a tornado, ripping apart anything that got in her way, be it soldier, mech or bulkhead. I had almost been forced to put her down when she found out that the people there to rescue her were working with Cerberus. It was clear there was some bad blood there, and she had refused to come with us until I gave her unrestricted access to the Cerberus files onboard the Normandy . I'd agreed, partially to placate her, but also because I was curious to see what she would find. Miranda had not been happy with that, but that was to be expected. It even made it a little more fun if I was honest with myself. The thing I found most interesting about the situation was that it meant Jack did not trust Cerberus. Despite all they had done for me, I still didn't trust Miranda or the Illusive Man. Neither one of the way playing it straight with me, and so if Jack had trust issues with them… well, the enemy of my potentially traitorous ally was potentially my friend. Besides, Jack obviously didn't live her life for restraint, and I hadn't gotten laid since my resurrection.

Not for lack of opportunities I reminded myself as I turned away from the windows. The ship's yeoman, Kelly Chambers, had made several not so subtle advances, and if she hadn't been an obvious a plant I certainly would have taken her by now. As it was though, I had decided to wait on that until had managed to sway her personal loyalty more securely into my own camp. Right at this moment though, there was a brand new, tatted up ex-con on my ship who clearly didn't trust my new benefactor; and I very much intended to take full advantage of that.

The doors to the port side engineering corridor slid open but instead of continuing through to the main engineering room and drive core, I peeled off and took the stairs down to the sub spaces. The place was dark, cramped, and almost always devoid of people. That seemed to suit Jack perfectly and she somehow managed to arrange for a cot and several other necessities to be delivered. As I moved off the final step and into the substation she looked up from the data pad she had been reading. I took careful note of the pistol she had placed on the bed next to her where it would be immediately accessible if she needed it. If that wasn't an indicator of her level of paranoia, I had no idea what was. It made a certain kind of sense too, she was just out of prison and riding aboard what she clearly considered an enemy ship. That could be useful, or dangerous, I wasn't sure which yet.

The glare she turned on me for interrupting her could have boiled battleplate. Without looking away she placed the pad down, and pointedly drew her hand back across the pistols grip. Subtle. I endured her stare as I finished descending into her lair; and her frown grew deeper as I settled in against the bulkhead to wait her out. She was apparently intent on doing the same thing and a tense silence suffused the sub area. As we both stood there taking the measure of each other I saw her eyes begin to roam over my body. I smirked and did the same thing, taking the opportunity to check her out, as there hadn't been much time on the station.

My assumption about her subtly was borne out by the outfit she's chosen. The leather straps and tight shorts did absolutely nothing to conceal the legion of tattoos she had apparently adopted in the place of cloths. There seemed to be no cohesive design or style among them and but there was far more ink than not. When taken with her lean predatory body, the ink and leather gave Jack a hard, violent, and vaguely unstable look. She was attractive in the same way a well-designed knife was attractive, the promise of danger and excitement appealed to the darker, more primitive parts of me. I was certain that activity involving Jack would be risky in all of the best ways.

The silence stretched on until, with a defensive smirk, she finally broke it.

"Well?" she sneered. "Is there something you wanted to talk about? Or did you just come down here to check out my tits?"

I let my gaze flick down to the thin leather straps hiding her modest breasts. I made no effort to be subtle about my assessment either.

"And if that's exactly what I had in mind?" I kept my own voice low, and only slightly mocking.

Her eyes narrowed even further, and the temperature of her glare reached nova levels. "Then at least you would be an honest asshole; but still an asshole."

I uncrossed my arms, holding them up in a conciliatory gesture and gave her my most disarming smile. "Fair enough. I actually came down to check on how you were settling in."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to get to know you. I intend to lead you into combat and I can't do that unless I know something about you."

Her glare cooled just a touch, it would probably still warp hull plating but at least we wouldn't start venting atmosphere if she looked away from me. "You didn't bring me on board for chit chat. You want me to kill for you, sure, I got my files so I'm in. But don't go thinking we're gonna be friends."

"I'm not going to stop asking." I warned her, letting a little steel into my words.

She rolled her eyes. "Woopty doo. What, you hoping I will break down in tears, confess all my sins and beg you to save me? Ask all you want Shepard, doesn't mean I have to tell you shit."

I ground my teeth together. She was a stubborn bitch. Which tracked, I was certain that plenty of people had tried to take advantage of her over her fairly short life and the shields she had erected to protect herself had to be massive. If I started pushing with personal questions it would just add reactor mass to the emotional fission plant powering those shields. Time for another approach.

I gestured to the data pad she had been reading. "Find anything interesting?"

The change in topic apparently took her by surprise and she glanced at the data pad. For just the briefest half second I saw the fear and anxiety her hostility was hiding. Whatever it was she was looking into, it was painful for her. Then the moment was over and her sneer reasserted itself. "Your friends in Cerberus are into some nasty stuff Shepard."

She reached down and picked the pad up again, letting it dangle absentmindedly as she continued speaking. "I will find something I can use, I am sure of it."

I made a mental note to pull a copy of whatever files she had been accessing, who knew what I might find useful. "And what is that? Answers of some sort?"

The glare took on a more predatory cast. "I'm not looking for answers Shepard, I am looking for names, dates, places."

The anger emanating from the young woman was almost palpable, and I thought I saw a flicker of indigo energy playing around her clenched fist. "What are you going to do when you get your information?"

"I go hunting. Anybody who has ever fucked with me is going to pay. Their associates are going to pay, their friends are going to pay, hell, even their fucking pets are going to pay. The galaxy is going to be a whole lot emptier once I am done."

Her voice was cold, hard, without a shred of doubt or bravado. She wasn't telling me her plan, or outlining her vengeance dreams. In her mind she was stating facts. Which was sobering. Jack was dangerous, and not just because of her immense biotic talent. She was a loose warhead, and I was absolutely certain when she finally detonated the entire galaxy would feel the explosion. Crossing her would be one of the riskiest things I could ever do. On the other hand, she was also an incredibly powerful potential ally, I would just have to maneuver her carefully.

She looked me fully in the face for the first time, eyes locking mine and challenging me to deny her. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Is there a reason it would be?"

Her head fell back and she let out a harsh bark of laughter. "Because I read your file too, I know who you are Shepard. Hero of the Skyllian Blitz, Defender of the Citadel. You're a boy scout, and I just told you I intended to murder a shit ton of people."

It was my turn to laugh. "Trust me sweetheart, I am no boy scout."

She looked at me skeptically and crossed her arms, clearly waiting for me to elaborate. This was my chance to establish a connection and I took full advantage of it.

I pointed at the pad again. "You read my file? Then you should know that after the Blitz I was with the assault forces during the retaliation on Torfan. I personally killed every single mother fucker responsible for those attacks."

Her approval was obvious, and I saw a hunger in her eyes that had once filled mine. We were both killers, willing to do whatever it took to win; but she was undisciplined, and she hadn't learned the cost of that dedication yet. I lost half my men during my attack on Torfan. I didn't regret killing the bastards. But I had learned since then that there are better ways of doing things. Wholesale slaughter might feel great, but it was sloppy and attracted the wrong kinds of attention. It certainly had its places, but one had to be very careful when choosing to employ that tactic. Look at the Krogan. Not that I was going to tell Jack that, that wasn't a message she was ready to hear right now. No, for now it was enough that she knew that I understood what she was feeling.

"Damn Shepard, that's hardcore. Maybe you do know what the fuck you are talking about." Her voice had lost its edge of derision. It wasn't friendly, but at least she was willing to listen. Good. Time to dig a little deeper.

"I do Jack, trust me I do. And that's why it's important that I get to know you. Let make it simple, maybe you can start by telling me something about yourself that I don't know?"

"Something you don't know huh? Obvious shit likes what's up with my ink, or else something just as boring?" Her words were dismissive, but they lacked the scorn I would have expected. "You're not really interested unless it affects you. I've been through this shit before."

I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow. "You always this much of a bitch? Or is today a special occasion?"

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "You always this much of an asshole? You came looking for me Shepard, not my problem if you can't handle me."

"I suppose I did didn't I. Alright, I'll bite. What's up with the ink?"

She pushed up off the cot and started to pace. "Some are for prisons I've been in. Some for kills. You know, the good ones."

She tapped a stylized Krogan skull and I stepped closer to see it better. "My first Krogan. Bastard was tough. Picked me up just when I was starting out. Tried to sell me to a Batarian slaver. I turned him inside out."

I reached out and touched one on her neck that didn't quite match the others around it. It was simple, no decoration, no color, just a big E little Z, the atomic symbol for Element Zero. "And this one?"

Her face shut down and she shoved my arm away. "That is for something I lost. That one isn't your business. It isn't anybody's business."

I let her move my hand, but didn't step back. "You don't ever let people get close do you?"

Her frown was back in full force now. "Close just means that people only need a shorter knife. I've learned the hard way that alone and safe works much better."

I resisted the urge to put my hand on her shoulder. "Alone? Maybe you're missing it more than you admit."

She just crossed her arms and leaned back a little to maintain eye contact. "Pick every word apart if you want to, doesn't change the way the galaxy works. You should know, you've been around."

I decided to take a risk, after all, I was hoping to secure her allegiance wasn't I? If I kept letting her push me away that would never happen. "Your right, I have been around, and I have learned the importance of the right allies. But you have to know that. Your tough Jack, but you can't have survived alone this whole time."

Something dark flicked across her eyes, and for a moment she was haunted by something. She banished the ghosts almost immediately though and forced a smirk. "Yeah, I thought so too once, until the assholes tried to double cross me. Got over the friend thing real quick after that."

This time I did put a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps it's time you reconsidered."

My smile was kind, the one I saved for wounded soldiers. For several moments neither of us said anything. Eventually she shrugged my hand off her shoulder and ramped up the wattage on her smirk. I let my arm fall and started to turn away from her. "Think about it Jack. We'll talk more later."

"Wait a fucking second Shepard." I stopped moving before I had even taken a step. This was what I had been waiting for.

"You got to ask your questions, my turn. What gives? What are you really after?" The aggression in her voice took on a mocking quality. "You eyeing me up? Because if this is about sex, maybe you should just fucking say so."

I looked back at her again and let my eyes run obviously over her body. "Oh, I was definitely checking you out, but, I'm in no hurry. I want to know what makes you tick first."

"You don't need to know somebody to fuck them. You just need to know where to stick it." The scorn and hostility in her voice almost covered her certainty and anticipation, almost. It would appear that I had been right about her. She rolled her hips a little and her eyes smoldered as she asked the question. "You do know where to stick it don't you?"

And there it was, the invitation. At this point I had a choice. I could take her up on the offer; pin her against the bulkhead and fuck her brains out. The mental image was certainly tempting, and it had been a long time since I had just taken what I wanted. The problem was, if I did that it would be a onetime thing. Chambers had warned that casual sex with Jack would damage her image of me, and it probably also rebuild all those walls I had just begun taking down. No, if I was going to take Jack, it had to be clearly her idea, anything less would just reinforce her idea that everybody was out for something. Which, I was, but that was beside the point. The goal here was to recruit Jack. If that meant I also got her as a lover than all the better, but I needed her biotics more than I need her pussy. My dick didn't quite see it that way, and a wave of lust swept through me as I again pictured her pinned against the wall.

With a sigh I banished the mental image and turned back to the stairs. "No Jack. Contrary to what you might believe, I am not in the habit of casually fucking my crew. I will be back later, and we can talk some more then."

I had gotten a few steps when there was a pair metallic clicks from behind me, as if someone had loaded and primed a heatsink. Combat reflexes kicked in and I whirled back around. Did Jack really handle rejection so badly she had drawn a weapon? I was just starting to bring my hands up into a defensive posture when it became clear what had actually happened. The two metal clasps which had secured the top of Jack's leather top were open, the straps they had been connected hanging near her belly button. As I completed my turn there was another pair of snaps and the entire thing fell away, leaving her breasts completely bare.

They were small, just the right size to fit in the palm of my hand, and like the rest of her, covered almost complete by tattoos. That much wasn't particularly surprising, the straps hadn't really concealed much of them after all. What was surprising was how much the ink made her nipples stand out. Both were completely bare of adornment, no tattoos, piercings or other augmentations. Somewhere in the back of my brain a little voice noted that I now owed Garrus five credits. The rest of my mind was distracted wondering what they would taste like, and what kinds of sounds she would make when I played with them.

As I stood there gawking, Jack sauntered up to me. She stopped a couple of feet away and smirked up at me. "Shepard, I just got out of prison. I don't much care what you are in the habit of doing. I am horny."

Her eyes flicked down to where my uniform was doing a terrible job concealing my erection. "You are horny."

She looked back up at my face. "I don't really see the fucking problem."

Well, I guess that was that. I had wanted this to be her decision, and it was pretty damn clear she had made it.

"Alright." I growled. 'Fuck it."

"That's the idea." She replied grinning wickedly. Then the crazy bitched shoved me; hard. Her strength took me off guard and I stumbled backward slamming into the storage crates behind me. The impact knocked something loose and I was pelted by boxes of, something. I didn't really have time to register what they were though because Jack had followed me and she slammed into my chest, one hand clamping over my throat and her mouth capturing mine.

Her kiss was raw, substituting intensity for technique. She held me pinned there for several seconds, our lips locked and slid her free hand down, pulling insistently at the buttons of my pants. I growled and thrust my hips out, pressing my erection into her hand. Her fingers wrapped around it, and she let out a hungry little sound of her own. Releasing my lips and throat she pushed away from me. For the second time I collided with the storage boxes. This time though I had no attention for such trivial distraction, because as she backed away from me, her hands dropped to release the clasps on her shorts. She kicked out of them as she bumped into the work bench next to her cot. Contemptuously she reached back and swept the surface clear of clutter, eyes never leaving mine.

The intensity in that stare was intoxicating and I ripped my own shirt off as I stalked to meet her. Our bare chests met and she pressed herself into me. Her nipples were hard points of delicious pressure on my skin and her lips were even hungrier than before as we kissed again. Arms wrapped around me, and her nails dug into my shoulder blades. With one hand I reached around behind her, grabbing tight to her ass and turning her away enough so I could cup one breast in the other hand. From there that hand worked down moving over the toned strength of her stomach, fingers playing all the way down to her pussy. It was already wet, and she gasped as I started to run my fingers over the entrance. Something hard pressed into my palm as I ground it into her clit. Jack drew her hands up over my shoulders, nails leaving tails of pain in their wake. As they reached my chest she shoved me a little, breaking our kiss.

Her voice was husky, needy. "Enough with this foreplay bullshit."

Foreplay? I had only just started. I turned her around, running my hand up from her ass and over her back and shoving her down to the workbench. I took a moment to admire the view. Her ass was covered in just as many tattoos as the rest of her body, and she did indeed have a piercing just above her clit. Reaching down, I ran my hand over her opening one more time, delighting in how slick her pussy was.

"What the fuck are you waiting for, fucking fuck me!" She demanded, ass rolling under my hand. Impatient bitch. Ok fine, if she was that eager for my cock I would give it to her. I lined up, took a breath, and in an explosive motion thrust my entire length into her.

She gasped, voice slightly pained, fingers clenching the edge of the table. Guess she was expecting that. Not that she had any room to complain, she was the one who had demanded I fuck her after all. If she got more than she asked for that was hardly my problem. I pulled out and drove into her again. She was wet and tight and felt fucking fantastic. It had definitely been too long since I had done this. I guess I hadn't realized how much I missed this, if I had, I might not have restrained myself with Chambers. Well, I guess I just had to make up for lost time.

It would seem I wasn't the only one to feel that way, because as my cock crashed into her again Jack thrust against it, taking it even deeper and letting out an almost feral moan. My own growl mingled with her moan and I picked up my pace, setting an aggressive rhythm. Jack didn't only match it, she accelerated it. As I continued to pound her, balls slapping nosily against her clit; she started move her hips, urging my dick deeper. Each thrust landed harder than the last and I felt her get tighter and tighter around my shaft until she came with an explosive moan. "Fuuuck!"

If I had thought that would slow her down though, I was mistaken. Even as she shook under me her hips were moving, continuing to demand more from me. "Harder." She growled, "Harder you fucking pussy."

My body screamed at me to do just what she said, demanding that plow this bitch with everything I had until I left her quivering in a puddle of her own cum. It was an enticing image, and I almost gave into it, but hesitated. If I did what she asked I was sure that this encounter would be a onetime thing. It was obvious that Jack could match my pace and power. That was her domain, the fast furious fuck. If I gave it to her hard she would be the one in control of the situation, and that was **not** how things worked. There would be plenty of time for that sort of thing further down the line; but right now I had to establish who was in charge here.

For a few moments I let myself give in and gave her everything I had, pounding her and slapping her ass for good measure. She cried out and thrust her hips into me, both of us racing towards the edge. Again she began to tighten around me, her moans and breathy swearing building in pitch, and I pulled out.

Her feet slipped a bit as her hips didn't meet with the expected resistance. "What the shit!"

She rose a bit, turning her head to sneer at me, and I noticed with appreciation that she was panting just a bit. "The great Commander Shepard running out of juice already."

I leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Hardly. I just want to make sure you know something."

A shift of my hips rested my tip at her opening. "You see Jack, this is my ship."

I slid in just the barest amount, feeling her pussy grip hungrily at the head. "On my ship, I give the orders."

I went a little deep, enjoying the feel of her hips shifting and wiggling to get more. "Not Miranda, not the Illusive Man, and not you."

My progress was slow, taking time to savor every tight wet inch. "You might be a hard ass bitch but, while you are my ship you are MY hard ass bitch. You want something from me, you ask for it."

I punctuated myself with a thrust that drove her into the edge of the work bench. She gasped, the sound mixing pain and pleasure and I kept her pinned there, cock buried up to my balls, my weight pressing her into the work surface as I asked a very important question. "Do you understand?"

The look she gave me was equal parts murder and desire, and it crossed my mind that I might have just miscalculated with a very dangerous individual. If I had read her wrong, I was about to be very thoroughly screwed, and not in the way I was hoping. The die was cast however, and I had no choice but to play this out. So I slapped her ass as I began to withdraw just as slowly as I had entered. Her eyes widened and glazed just a bit.

"Fuck you." Her words were so low I almost couldn't hear them.

I withdrew almost entirely, leaving just my tip inside her, and slapped her other ass cheek, leaving a bright red mark. "What was that?"

Beneath me her body quivered, whether with restrained rage or frustrated lust I couldn't say. For a tense couple of seconds she didn't say anything. The, with an explosive sigh she gave in. "Fuck, fine, whatever. Yes, Shepard. I understand. Now fuck me damn it."

I stayed where I was. "That sounded like an order Jack."

She growled and she began to emit a faint blue light. Her next words were forced out between clenched teeth. "Will you please fuck me Shepard, before I throw your ass through the fucking wall."

You know what, that was good enough.

I gave her what she asked for.

* * *

Miranda shut off the monitor and leaned back in her seat fuming. She knew she should keep watching, but right now she just couldn't. It wasn't the idea of watching other people fuck that bothered her, that was just part of the job. The cameras in Jack's cabin had already caught the younger woman masturbating twice and she hadn't shut off the screen then. It also wasn't the fact that Shepard had side stepped the plan with Chambers; she hadn't really placed much faith in the yeoman's ability to capture the commander's attention, which was probably a good thing. Secretly Miranda was sure that if Shepard had taken that bait, he would have turned Chambers faster than she could turn him anyways. No, what was bothering her was just how much watching Shepard fuck Jack had turned her on.

She was a professional damn it, she should be above this; but there was just something about that man. Miranda had spent most of her life working around some of the most powerful people in the galaxy, and still somehow Shepard broke through all of her defenses. It wasn't that he was the most attractive man she had ever met, he wasn't. He was an excellent soldier sure, but if she wanted that Jacob would trip over himself to be with her. He was highly intelligent, but hardly the smartest person she knew. There was just his presence, something that made him seem more than the sum of his parts.

During her time overseeing his recovery she had read every scrap of information gathered on him. She had watched interviews with each of the surviving members of his crew, hell she had conducted two of them herself in disguise. She knew very well how charismatic and charming he could be, and she had thought she had been prepared for it; yet somehow he still got to her. Her mind flashed back to the shuttle ride away from Lazarus station. She had caught him eyeing her up, and with anybody else she would have sneered privately and dismissed them, but not Shepard. There had been an… intensity to his gaze that had taken her back. She was no stranger to people gawking at her, it had been happening since she was 12 years old. In fact her surveillance bugs had already recorded three crew conversations that included lewd comments about her, one of them had even been fairly original. But when he had looked at her, instead of irritating her it had made her horny.

With a tentativeness she hated herself for she reached out and switched the monitor back on. They had left the workbench in favor of the room's small cot. The hesitation Shepard had been displaying earlier was gone and he was holding the biotic woman up off the mattress as he thrust furiously into her. As Miranda watched Jack came so hard it unbalanced Shepard and the two collapsed onto the cot. That didn't stop them though. After only a few moments of rest Jack shoved the commander away, then climbed on top of him. Her hips ground into his and her back arched, unintentionally giving the camera a perfect view of her small, overly tattooed breasts.

The image rekindled her lust and Miranda had to make a conscious effort to stop her hand from sliding between her legs. She couldn't work like this, and she would be damned before she gave into the desire burning through her. With a sigh of disgust she shut off the security feed, her cameras would record it all anyway. Later she knew she would have to go through it, but for now there were expense reports she could work on that would help take her mind off what she had seen. She pulled up the first report and dived in.


	4. Chapter 3

The doors to the private room slid open and Garrus Vakarian looked up from the app running on his omni-tool. I held one hand up to him in a _wait a moment_ gesture and stepped into the room. The noise from the club was reduced to a dull roar as the doors shut behind me and I gave a little sigh of relief. It wasn't that I had anything against Afterlife's music, it was certainly appropriate to the venue, but it made conversation somewhat more difficult.

I took a seat on the couch that ran the entire perimeter of the small room, and Garrus motioned to the pole sticking up out of the center of the table between us. He cracked a smile and gave me an inquiring look.

"Are we waiting for somebody else? Or do you expect me to dance for you? Because if that's the case, you may not have noticed that I'm not as pretty as I used to be."

He was healing better than I had originally expected but he still had some impressive scars coating one side of his face and neck. Garrus it turns out had spent the time since my death as a vigilante on Omega. The former C-Sec officer had apparently grown fed up with playing the game by the rules and had spent the last 15 months or so waging a private war on the space station's criminal element, which on Omega was basically everybody. One of the people he had saved had hung the name Archangel on him and it was under that name that he attracted Cerberus' attention. It had been a very welcome surprise when I discovered who he actually was. Less surprising was that when I found him he had managed to piss off all three of the largest gangs on the station. We had been able to extract him from that cluster fuck, but not before a gunship did its level best to rip his head off.

"You aren't? Well fuck, I guess I will have to pay for that girl after all." We both smiled despite the lameness of the joke. All things being equal Garrus was actually pretty lucky he hadn't died, but we would never talk about it. Just bad jokes and insults, it was part of what made our relationship work. That, and how good we both were at killing things.

The turian crossed his arms behind his head and reclined in his seat. "Go for it, I'll wait."

I smiled sadly and shook my head. "Not that kind of evening Garrus."

He sighed and leaned forward. "I figured. Care to enlighten me as to why we are in a seedy club grabbing drinks instead of rushing about saving the galaxy? Not that I am complaining about the change of pace mind you, just you know, curious."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do I need a reason to go out and have drinks with an old friend?"

"Need? No. Have? Yes." His voice was dry. "Spill Shepard."

Garrus had been with me in countless firefights during the hunt for Saren, and I felt like I had gained the measure of him. His time as Archangel seemed to have burned away his remaining faith in the established system. Of all the people on the Normandy he was the one I trusted the most; which was why I had asked him to meet me here after all. If he didn't want to beat around the bush, I could respect that.

"Tell me, what do you think of our situation?"

He mulled it over for a few moments. "I assume you aren't talking about right now."

I nodded and he continued.

"In that case, I think we are in a very, interesting...situation." He paused on the word interesting, giving it all the weight of understatement.

"Way I see it, you have been given an incredible amount of resources, access to some of the best people in the known galaxy, and have been told to go do the impossible. It's kind of like the hunt for Saren, only this time we know next to nothing about our targets; and instead of being backed by the unwieldy might of the council we are being supported by a shadowy group of xenophobic extremists. So, you know, that's different."

I grinned, in his first try Garrus had hit upon the very subject I was hoping to discuss. "And how do you feel about that last part? I know you are down with finding and killing shadowy evils from beyond our galaxy, we have already done that. How do you feel about being bankrolled by Cerberus?"

Garrus drummed his fingers on the table top. "Honestly? I think it's crazy. You remember what these guys were doing the last time we crossed paths with them? Thorian creepers? Rachni? Cerberus is bad news Shepard. I appreciate everything they have given us, but I don't trust them, and I don't think they trust us. That Lawson woman is probably reporting back everything we do to the Illusive Man."

I arched an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully around the private room.

"Which," Garrus said in sudden understanding, "is why we are meeting in a seedy club grabbing drinks."

I gave him a wicked little smile. "Miranda can't stop me from grabbing a private drink with an old friend without tipping her hand about the fact that she doesn't trust me. I chose some place off the Normandy because of course the ship is bugged. Cerberus built her from the keel out. If Miranda doesn't have the thing covered in cameras then the Illusive Man is certain to. You don't just hand out cutting edge stealth frigates to outsiders without out some kind of way of keeping tabs on it."

"Probably booby-trapped too, come to think of it." Garrus added and I had to at admit he had a point. This was why I liked working with him, he had one of the sharper tactical minds I had ever encountered.

"Right." I agreed. "Which is why I asked you out here. It's clear that the Illusive Man doesn't trust me, and the feeling is mutual. We both need each other right now but that's going to change at some point. When that happens, things will probably get violent. The first thing I think we need to do, is start making plans to secure the Normandy before we lose her."

Garrus smirked at me. "Afraid of another trip in zero gee? You already lived through it once, how bad could a second time be?"

I kept my face straight and voice dry. "Oh, I would be fine, I was worried about you. But if you think it would be fine, I guess we can stop planning now."

He laughed. "Fair enough. So, what are you planning to keep us both from having to test our ability to breathe vacuum?"

"Way I see it, there are three things we need to plan for." I counted them off on my fingers. "First, we need to make sure that the ship can't be detonated remotely. A bomb built into the Eezo core would make a pretty clean job of it. Miranda is paying too much attention to me to let me snoop around freely. I need you to do what you can to search the ship's systems for anything that seems out of place. Since I am pretty sure the whole ship is bugged, we will need to establish some kind of code for if you find anything."

Garrus thought for several moments. "I have been playing with the main battery a bit already, how about this. If I am still looking and haven't found anything, I will tell you I am calibrating the gun. If I have found it, I will invite you out for another drink. Sound good?"

"Sounds a bit hooky, but should work for now. If it gets old or suspicious we can think of something else." I dropped the next finger.

"Next problem is EDI. She claims to have only limited access to the ship's systems but I don't trust her. Her core is located behind the med-bay, if it comes down to a fight for the ship, it will have to be one of the first places we secure. Either hold her systems hostage or disconnect her entirely."

Garrus grunted. "Joker will love that, he hates that thing."

That made me smile a little. "True, but despite what Joker wants, I would prefer to take her intact. EDI is an incredible resource if we can ensure her loyalty. That being said, I want to make sure we have the option to shut her down if we have to."

I rapped my remaining finger on the table. "The final, and most important thing we will need to make sure of is that at the end of the day, we are still the ones in control of the ship itself."

Garrus gave me a very direct look and asked in a sardonic tone. "Shepard, are we planning a mutiny for the ship you are already in command of?"

I thought about it for a second then waggled my hand in a so so gesture. "More like planning to counter a mutiny."

Garrus harrumphed, which I hadn't known turians could do. "Fair. If it does come down to fighting, who do you think we can count on?"

I offered no comment, letting him take the initiative. After a moment of contemplation he spoke.

"Joker and Chakwas are guarantees, though they won't be much use until after the fight. The general crew is Cerberus and I think we need to assume that they will follow the Illusive Man's orders over yours. That really just leaves the squad."

That was what more or less what I had been thinking as well. My own reads of the crew were good, but I wanted a second opinion before I made any solid plans. Garrus was a soldier. He had experience leading, and most importantly, was unlikely to betray me. I trusted his opinion, and not only because if it came down to shooting, he was likely to get shot at just as much as I would.

"Grunt probably won't be an issue. Far as I can tell he really only cares about getting to kill things. You earned his respect, he will follow you."

"Agreed, and I will appreciate having him."

"It's always better to be fighting with a krogan than against one." He rubbed his recently healed shoulder. "After Grunt we have Mordin. The professor's a bit touched, even for a Salarian; but he is ex STG; Cerberus doesn't have the best history with them. If it came down to him choosing who to help during a fight I think he would back our play."

"I was hoping you would say that, he's our best bet to take EDI offline."

Garrus nodded, and slumped back into his seat a little bit. His voice took on a tone I hadn't heard from him before, wistful. "You know who would be really useful? Tali. Nobody knows AI like she does, I would feel a lot better if she was the one taking down EDI."

She really would be perfect for this, but she had made her position clear on Freedom's Progress. "I invited her, but she turned me down, something about not trusting Cerberus ironically."

He perked up at that. "Oh? You spoke with her? I mean, she knows you're still alive?"

"Yeah, I ran into her right after Cerberus brought me back. Didn't you read the mission reports I gave you?"

He gave me a very flat look. "Shepard, between breaking an insane biotic out of prison, stopping a plague and attacking a Blue Suns krogan cloning plant, we have been a little busy."

He had left out the half dozen errands we had run trying to earn some favors. "Maybe if you didn't spend so much time in your bunk calibrating your gun." I teased.

He sniffed. "Somebody has to." Then he winked at me and I laughed.

"Really though Shepard, if Tali already knows you are alive, maybe I could talk to her. We kept in touch after, well, um, after you died. She was pretty broken up about it. I helped her deal and she gave me technical advice a couple of times."

I leered at Garrus. "Helped her deal with it? Are we talking cuddling on the couch watching _Fleet and Flotilla_ eating nutrient paste, or…" I let my voice trail off suggestively.

He coughed uncomfortably and fidgeted in his seat. "It wasn't like that. More like I helped her find and kill a bunch of Geth. Get through that whole anger phase. That vid isn't that good anyway." He muttered the last part, and I laughed again.

He glared and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, Jack. How about that psychotic biotic wrecking ball? Think we can count on her?"

I let him off the hook, we could come back to it later, and if it brought Tali back onto my ship who was I to complain. "Jack, yes, she hates Cerberus with a passion. I think the hard part would be getting her to stop once we started."

Garrus nodded appreciatively. "That girl is krogan size damage in a volus size package, might just take the whole ship with her."

After a few moments he added. "I think I will let you handle that part."

"Thanks." I muttered.

He grinned at me. "No problem Commander, you are the great hero after all, I am but the lowly sidekick. The smarter, harder and formerly devilishly handsome sidekick. Zaeed?"

"Hmmm… He I am not sure about. Cerberus are the ones who initially paid him, but I took a look at his contract. It includes the stipulation that I dedicate some time to a personal mission of his. Maybe I will find something during that which can help me bring him in. And, if all else fails we can always offer him lots of money."

Garrus didn't seem to like that answer but he let it slide. "That just leaves Miranda and Jacob. They seem pretty obviously."

I held up a hand. "Miranda certainly. Jacob though, I'm not so sure. During our talks I get the feeling that he doesn't really trust Cerberus either. I think he is more upset with the system of the Alliance and wants to take the fight to the bad guys. I can respect that. Depending on what ends up being the reason for our break, I think we could convince him to fight with us."

Garrus considered that, leaning back in his seat and mulling it over. Finally he started nodding, slowly. "Yeah, yeah ok I could see that. Guess that makes it Miranda, possibly Jacob, possibly Zaeed and the crew, against, you, me, Grunt, Jack, Mordin. If we plan it right we could probably swing it tomorrow if you really want to."

It was tempting I had to admit. Having complete control of the Normandy would mean I was once again in absolute control of my life, and that was more than a little appealing. But what would I do with it? Jack had suggested going pirate, but that would grow old quickly. Besides, I would still have to deal with the Collectors. Doing that on top of dodging whatever retaliation the Illusive Man was sure to send after me would be more than a little difficult. And both threats would distract me from me from building up my own power base to confront the Reapers when they eventually showed up.

No, for now it was better to keep the nominal leash the Illusive Man held on me. As long as he continued to give me the same degree of freedom he currently was, and kept me supplied with Cerberus funds, I could make this work.

I frowned and shook my head. "No point in screwing up a good thing until we have too. Start looking for those irregularities and booby traps. And, if you think you can convince her, reach out to Tali. She would be a massive asset."

Garrus nodded, relief evident on his face. "Good, I wasn't looking forward to the fallout from that fight. I will send that message once we are back onboard. Anything else you wanted to talk about? Or should I go hire us that girl?"

As if summoned by his words there was a beep from the doors as the privacy systems were disengaged, then they slid open to reveal one of the clubs dancers. She was a beautiful asari with a unique pink coloring that I was pretty sure I had never seen before. Intricate tattoos framed her eyes. She stood awkwardly for a moment before taking a step into the room, the doors closing behind her.

"Excuse my intrusion commander, but your ship has been trying to contact you for the last five minutes. Apparently they started to bother mistress Aria. She asked me to tell you that if she has to deal with one more call from your, and this is a direct quote: _overly entitled, stuck up, prissy bitch of an XO_ , she would have you forcibly ejected from her station. I would suggest you listen to her sir, I have seen her do it. Also, she said she is adding an additional thousand credit charge to this room because she is not, and again this is a direct quote: _your fucking answering service._ "

I shot a bemused glance Garrus. "Guess I better call them back then." He rolled his eyes.

I returned my attention to the dancer. "Thank you, and please convey my apologies to Aria."

I brought up my omni-tool and transferred two thousand credits into the club's account. "Tell her I appreciate her restraint and that I am more than happy to pay for her inconvenience."

The dancer bowed her head to me and retreated from the room, without reinstating the privacy systems. With a sigh I tapped my earbud. This had better be fucking worth it. If Miranda was just calling to keep tabs on me I was going to take it out of her hide. "Shepard here, what is so damn important you had to…"

She cut me off. "We know where the Collectors are going to hit next."


	5. Chapter 4: Horizon

The doors to the Normandy's conference room slid open and I stalked into my first council of war. The low level of noise as my team chatted amongst themselves quieted as I entered, and I quickly swept my gaze over them. Miranda and Jacob were at the head of the table going over something on a data pad the marine held. Jack was lurking in a corner doing her best to look uninterested. Mordin was pacing, muttering calculations and possibilities to himself. At the far end of the table Garrus sat across from Zaeed, a turian game similar to chess arrayed between them. And Grunt loomed in the corner across from Jack looking bored and angry, which was pretty much standard for him.

Everybody but Jack turned their attention to me as I stepped up to the head of the table, silently displacing Jacob, who faded to my left.

"This is it everybody." My voice was calm, confident, and filled with just a hint of the excitement I felt to finally be taking it to the enemy.

"The colony on Horizon has gone dark. We believe that means they already have been, or soon will be, attacked. This is the first chance we have had to catch the Collectors in the act. They aren't there, we will go dark, wait for them to arrive and ambush them as they attempt to attack the colony. If the attack has already started by the time we get there though, things get a little more complicated."

I glanced up at the ceiling. "EDI, pull up the latest map we have of Horizon."

A scale model of the colony blazed to life in the center of the table, and I used a pointer from my omni-tool as I outlined my strategy.

"We will split into three teams. The main team, consisting of myself, Grunt, and Jack, will land here. From there we will proceed towards the main colony building, making as much noise and drawing as much attention to ourselves as we possibly can."

Grunt's sullen expression cleared when he heard that and he enthusiastically pounded his fist into an open palm. Jack also perked up, going so far as to push off the wall and join the rest of us at the table.

"Next is the science team is on information detail. Professor, I want you to land behind my team and follow in our wake. Gather any tech and take any samples you feel will be useful. Jacob, Zaeed, you are on close protection of the professor while he works."

All three of them nodded. "Finally, overwatch team. Miranda, I assume you have had training as a spotter?"

Beside me she nodded, frowning.

"Good. You and Garrus are on sweeper duty. I want the two of you roaming around the perimeter of the battle. If either my team or Mordin's get into trouble I am counting on the two of you to bail us out. Additionally, I want the two of you focusing on the big picture. Try to pick out patterns in the Collectors movements and behavior, and give the other teams advice and information."

Garrus grunted his understanding and assent but Miranda's frown only grew deeper. "Commander, I should be with your team."

I debated how to reply to that. On one hand she was my XO and had the right to question my orders and planning. On the other hand, this was not the venue for such an objection. Miranda was used to getting her way, and she felt entitled to tell me how to run my mission. It would be a problem if I allowed it to continue. I let a little bit of steel into my voice as I responded.

"My team has to move fast and hit hard, Miranda." Miranda stiffened and from the corner of my eye I saw Jack smirk. I continued before she could voice another objection. "And that is not your strength. This isn't open to debate right now. If you need to talk about it, come see me after."

Her eyes flashed, but she backed down into a sullen silence. I was certain that was not the last I would hear of this. Her eyes were promising a fight later and I spent half a moment considering what they would look like promising other things. Miranda had a strength of personality that made her intensely attractive and the image that came to mind was a deeply intriguing one, but not one that belonged in the current situation. With a shake of my head I returned my thoughts to the mission.

"Now, are there any other questions?"

A few hands went up and I pointed to Jacob. "Commander, outside our strategic goals, what are our tactical orders?"

It was a good question, one I had spent a fair bit of time wrestling with myself. "Our priorities are split. On one hand we have to gather as much information on our opponents as we can. Science and Overwatch teams both have that as their primary goal, with saving the civilian population as a secondary concern. My priorities are switched. In the all the other colonies the Collectors have hit they have abducted every living person they could get their hands on. Since my team's mission is to draw their attention to us, we will be doing everything we can to stop that process. Keep in mind though, people. Our final goal is to stop the Collectors once and for all. If that means we have to sacrifice a few colonists, then that's what it means. But only if that becomes absolutely necessary. I am confident in your abilities and judgment and will leave small unit tactical decisions to the team leaders, but I will be reviewing those decisions after the fight. If we simply ignore the people we are there to save then we have no reason being there. Save everybody you can without undue risk to yourself or your team. Understood?"

Murmurs and grunts of agreement sounded around the table, then Garrus asked a question. "Shepard, do we have a solution to the seeker swarms yet?"

I motioned to Mordin. "Professor Solus thinks he has developed a countermeasure that should keep us protected. Professor?"

"Ah yes countermeasures should work. Have done extensive test. As extensive as could be at least given time and limited data. Not guaranteed. Some risk of failure. Still, theory sound." Mordin nodded and smiled. "Should work."

That part was a little sticky. If his counter to the paralyzing power of the Collector's seeker swarms turned out to be ineffectual, the mission would be a rather short one. "It is because of that reason that my team will lead the other two teams by three minutes. If something happens to us the other teams won't also be caught. That being said, try your best to extract us if we do get caught ok? Anything else?"

Nobody raised a hand. "Well alright people. Joker says we are about an hour out. Eat something and get ready. If there are any last minute questions or concerns I will be in my cabin."

With that I turned and left the room. There were things I needed to prepare.

* * *

The shuttle settled into place and Miranda leapt the remaining meter to the ground, grunting and bending her knees to absorb the impact. Beside her Garrus landed in a similar crouch. Together they began to stalk forward, Miranda drifting just a little bit ahead of the Turian to take point. From the outside Miranda was the picture of calm collected professionalism, on the inside however she was fuming.

What the fuck had Shepard been thinking asking, no, telling her that she wouldn't be part of the main team? Hit hard and fast? What was that macho bullshit? She could understand Grunt's assignment to his team, the krogan was the next best thing to unkillable. But Jack? Jack was unstable at the very best. She was as much a danger to her allies as she was to her opponents. If it had been up to her, Jack would have been left on board the Normandy. She was best used when the problem was simple. Give her a building to smash or an enemy strong point to assault and Miranda would admit that she was effective. But putting her in the point team on a mission to gather intelligence and save civilians? No goddamn way. This had to be because they were fucking. Shepard had brought her along so he could make her feel important and so she would be more pliable when he screwed her again. He was jeopardizing the mission for the sake of his bloody penis.

The analytical part of her mind rebelled at that idea. Nothing in Shepard's file or recent performance had indicated that he placed personal gratification over the outcome of the mission. That part of her insisted that he truly believed his choice to be the best tactical decision. Miranda stubbornly ignored that voice. This was Shepard's way of telling her that he was in charge, a petty, vindictive move to prove that he had the bigger dick, and she would be damned if she let it get to her. Miranda would complete this job to the very best of her ability because at least one of them had to be a professional.

Ahead of her the colony was eerily still. Nothing moved, but for some reason it didn't feel like it had on Freedom's Progress. That colony had been still as well, but there had been a sense of finality about it, like whatever had happened was over, which it had been. Here though, there was an air of anticipation, as if instead of already having happened, events here hadn't yet started.

Thirty seconds later she found out why.

Miranda rounded the corner of a prefabricated building and almost ran head first into a colonist. She reacted with the speed of instinct honed by intense training, her biotics shoving the man away, opening enough space for her to bring up her submachine gun. The reaction and sudden violence was unnecessary however because her target wasn't fighting back. Instead the man simply fell over, his body frozen in a posture of abject terror, one hand raised as if in defense. She eased her weapon down and leaned in to inspect the colonist. This must be the work of the Collector's seeker swarms. Tapping her earbud she called it in.

"Shepard, we found one of the colonists."

The only reply was a very faint hiss of static. She tried again.

"Shepard, this is Miranda, do you read?"

Garrus had caught up to her as she spoke and he indicated the motionless form.

"Poor bastard."

"Nothing we can do for him." Her voice came out hard, dispassionate. She hated it, but there really wasn't, and rescuing people was a secondary priority. "I think our communications are being jammed. We need to find Shepard."

The chatter of automatic weapons suddenly split the air, and a short distance away there was a shout followed by a massive biotic explosion. Garrus shot her an amused look. "I have a feeling he is in that direction."

She rolled her eyes.

Garrus grinned and indicated a structure a short distance away. "High ground will give us the best visibility and field of fire."

It was a control building of some sort, several stories taller than the ones around it, and from where they were standing she could see a ladder leading up to the roof. The only problem with that position was that her own offensive options would be strictly limited; her submachine gun and biotics would be almost useless at that range, leaving her with only a heavy pistol. On the other hand, the increased visibility would help her track and record the movements of any Collectors they saw.

She nodded and they moved out, Miranda again a little ways in front. She hadn't gone twenty meters before a new sound caught her attention. It was a loud buzzing noise, like the sounds insects made, but on a much larger scale and it was coming from above and behind her. She whipped around, noticing Garrus doing the same thing in her peripheral vision. There were twelve of them flying in a loose v formation about twenty meters above the prefab buildings. Humanoid in shape but distinctly insectoid in appearance, with dragonfly wings sprouting from their backs and two sets of eyes; eyes which quickly locked on her.

"Oh bloody hell," she muttered.

Four of them detached from the group, angling in for a landing in a group of crates ahead of her. She broke into a run, body doubled over in a combat crouch, submachine gun up and spitting a stream of hypersonic darts. She saw her rounds connect in an explosion of indigo sparks. These fuckers had barriers apparently. Her shoulder impacted a crate and she took a moment to eject the half spent heat sink. If they had barriers, did that mean they also had biotics? From the other side of her cover she could hear the collectors settle to the ground, the buzzing of their wings fading away, only to be replaced by the drone of their weapons as they opened up on her.

Impacts began to chew away at her cover and she cursed again. Slapping in a fresh thermal clip she scooted back, putting enough distance between herself and the crate that should she could easily move in either direction. The suppressive fire slackened, presumably as one of them reloaded and she ducked out, muzzle tracking with her line of sight.

Two of them had taken up shooting positions and were covering the other two as they advanced. She lined up on the closer of the two and unloaded her entire heat sink into it. Miniature blue starbursts stitched their way up its chest until her twelfth round shattered its barrier, and the remaining shots exploded its oddly triangular head. Brain and blood splattered the creature behind it, obscuring its vision and fouling its return fire. Its companions though had no such problems and she felt several rounds impact her own barrier. From behind her there was a loud crack and one of the shooters slumped back, collapsing around the hole that had opened in its chest.

Miranda threw her arm out, calling upon her biotics to wrench at blinded collector's barrier. It staggered and Garrus's second shot ripped into its shoulder, all but taking the limb off with the force of its impact. The shot spun it back in half circle and into the line of the remaining opponent's fire. The last collector fired through its wounded ally, knocking it to the ground three rounds continuing past it to hammer into Miranda's barrier and she was forced to duck back into cover before her own protection collapsed.

She reloaded her weapon and took a moment to catch her breath, mentally checking on the status of her barrier. One of the first things all combat biotics learned was how to project the defensive field, layering themselves in protective energies similar to the shields generated by combat armor. She was shocked to find that the handful of hits she had taken had chewed through more than seventy percent the layers she had built up. Whatever weapons they were using packed more punch than an Alliance assault rifle. She gritted her teeth and flared her biotics again, reconstituting the barrier, then peeked around the edge of her cover. She pulled back almost instantly as more rounds blew chunks from her crate. She had gotten what she needed though. The collector hadn't moved from its position at the corner of one of the buildings. Her submachine gun wouldn't be very accurate at this range and her pistol wouldn't be able to drain his barrier before he broke through hers.

She threw a look over her shoulder. Garrus was about five meters behind and to the right of her, Mantis sniper rifle braced on a low wall. He should have the shot if she could pull the collector's attention. She figured her barrier could take about seven direct hits before it would go down. Catching Garrus's eye she flashed the Alliance Special Forces hand signs for distraction, moving, and kill; and holding up three fingers. He nodded and settled himself a little more securely behind his rifle.

She readied herself, counted down on her fingers and then burst from behind her crate making for another crate four meters ahead; weapon up and spraying a suppressive burst. None of her shots came close to hitting and the collector shifted its focus to returned fire. Three shots connected with her barrier before Garrus took the shot, two more hitting before the sniper round blew the side of the collector's head off. Miranda skid to a stop behind her target crate, panting. She had felt the impacts of the rounds even through her barrier and she figured her calculations had been off, one more round probably would have done for it.

Again refreshing the layers she cautiously stepped out from behind her crate. She wanted to take a moment to examine the bodies but ahead of her she could still hear the sounds of a furious firefight. Shepard was apparently still in the thick of it and might need their help.

They made it to the building without any further resistance and Miranda was the first one up the ladder. She crawled across the roof on her belly to peek over the other side, finally getting a look at the battle raging below her.

Instantly she knew that she had been wrong, Shepard hadn't only been thinking with his dick when he had picked his squad. There were at least ten collectors entrenched in the field below and the team was ripping them to shreds.

Jack was at the front of their loose group, her biotics knocking aside crates, smashing through walls, and sending opponents flying in every direction. Shepard was right behind her, his assault rifle hammering controlled bursts into any target his biotic battering ram knocked loose. Grunt was the last in their line and his shotgun finished off any target Jack or Shepard left behind. Miranda found that interesting. Standard combat doctrine while fighting alongside a Krogan was to put them on point, where their greater mass and physical toughness could act as sort of shield for those behind them. In their current setup, Jack was the one most likely to take the fire and the crazy bitch wasn't even wearing armor. Why would Shepard have organized them like that?

She got her answer just a few moments later. The major benefit to Shepard's strategy was that his team was always moving. They used only minimal cover and never let themselves get bogged down in protracted firefights. The downside was that they also weren't comprehensively clearing the ground around them. As she watched, three husks worked their way around Jack and Shepard's meat grinder and fell on the team from behind. They were rewarded for their efforts in typical Krogan fashion. Grunt roared and lashed out with a stomping kick that crushed the chest of the first husk to reach him. A blast of his shotgun took the head off of the next one. The third leapt on him and the enraged krogan simply smashed himself into a wall, crushing the mindless thing. He shook himself, then broke into a lumbering run to catch up with the other two. So Grunt was acting as a wall then, letting the other two members of the team focus their attention on the threats in front of them.

Shepard had been right, damn it. It was a devastating strategy, and begrudgingly Miranda had to admit to herself that she had no place in it. She didn't have Jack's raw power, her biotics skills lay more along precision and focus then uncontrolled destruction, so she couldn't have filled in for her. It would have taken her only a few seconds longer than Grunt to take care of those husks, but in the kind of fight they were running, a few extra seconds would have seen her left behind and isolated. So fine, maybe she didn't have a place in that strategy, but damn it, he should have discussed it with her before dressing her down like that in public. She hadn't talked to him about it on the ship because she had wanted to see how the mission went before she did. She'd expected to have to bail Shepard's team out and had been looking forward to rubbing that in his face. It wasn't that she was arrogant, she just had an excellent understanding of her own capabilities compared with the rest of the squad. Taken by the numbers Shepard's team should have fallen apart. Neither of his companions had any significant experience working as part of a team, and both were impulsive and reckless. In spite of that Shepard had forged them into something greater than the sum of their parts, as trite and clichéd as that was.

Beside her Garrus muttered. "Doesn't really look like they need our help."

His gravelly voice startled her and she silently berated herself. She'd been so caught up in her own head that she hadn't even noticed his arrival. He was right though. Below her, Shepard's team was in the process of clearing out the last of their opponents. They had shifted their formation, and were now advancing in a variation on a shooting line, all three focused on a single collector. This one was different, its body was covered in glowing cracks and its skin was blackened and charred looking. It was also apparently much tougher than its allies had been. As she watched Jack shouted and sent a shockwave of destructive force lashing out at the lone collector. Miranda had seen that same attack rip through a wall, but the collector only staggered slightly. From its other side Grunt was hammering it with shotgun rounds, the heavy impacts having almost no visible effect. The strange collector retaliated with a biotic attack of its own, a ball of golden light flickering with black lightning that knocked the krogan staggering back two meters. It was Shepard that finally brought the thing down. He went straight in, dodging another of the biotic spheres with well-timed sidestep pirouette, rifle up and firing the whole time. The stream of rounds drilled into the center of the collector's chest until with a flash its barrier broke, just as Shepard's rifle ejected its spent thermal clip. The Commander never slowed; one hand drew and fired his pistol as the other collapsed, then holstered the rifle, all the while driving forward. He ducked one more of the biotic spheres, slapped aside the collector's rifle and jammed the muzzle of his Carnifex under its triangular head. She saw his mouth move but he was too far away for her to hear what he said as he blew the top of the creature's head off.

The body dissolved into a cloud of ashes, and the Commander and his team disappeared into a door in the building's first story. Behind them they left the remains of over a dozen foes, all killed in less than a minute. Up until then Miranda had not quite understood what made the Illusive Man so interested in the Commander. He was an excellent soldier sure, but Cerberus already had plenty of those. He was a more than competent tactician, but that hardly set him apart. She had privately come to believe that the Illusive Man's main goal had been mostly one of ego. She'd thought he had wanted to have humanity's greatest living hero as a toy he could push around. Now she thought understood better. Shepard was actually as good as his hype, he wasn't perfect certainly, but she could no longer deny that he was special. Not only was he an intensely dangerous individual combatant, he also drew out the very best in those around him. It wasn't strategy or tactics, it was just who he was, and it made him dangerous. She would have to watch him even more closely.

From a ways down the roof she heard Garrus let out a vehement curse in turian. She snapped her head around, thinking he had been hit. He didn't look injured, he was crouched at one of the corners of the roof, his rifle trained on something she couldn't see. Keeping low she scuttled over to him.

"What is it?"

He pointed to where two figures were moving behind another of the prefab buildings. It was hard to tell from here but it looked like they were dragging another form between them. She caught a glimpse of white and pink before all three disappeared.

"One of the colonists?"

Garrus shook his head, his brows knitted in more concern than she would have expected, and when he spoke he sounded as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "It was Ashley."

"What?" she demanded. "Chief Williams? Off the old Normandy?"

"Yeah."

How the hell was that possible? The last intelligence report she'd read had put Ashley Williams on an outreach mission… to a colony in the Terminus system… Shit. How had she missed that? She had been too distracted by Shepard sidelining her. She should have put it together that this would be where the Alliance had sent her. They must have expected that this colony would come under attack and sent Williams to help prepare for it, but how would they know which colony to send her to? Then another thought hit her. What if the Alliance hadn't known, what if Williams wasn't here because the collectors were here? What if the collectors were here because Williams was here?

Oh bloody hell, she realized, it was a trap. This whole operation was a trap for the Commander. Beside her Garrus started to push himself to his feet.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

Garrus looked at her as if she was an idiot. "I am going to rescue Ashley, obviously."

She grabbed him and yanked him back down. "Don't be a bloody idiot. It cannot possibly be a coincidence that Williams is here. If she is here then the collectors are targeting her, or using her to draw out the commander. Our mission is to protect Shepard, not her."

He pulled out of her grip and began to rise again. "I can't just sit here and let them take her. Shepard would want me to go after her."

He was right damn it. Shepard and Williams had been...well, she wasn't sure if romantically was quite the right word... carnally maybe? They had been involved anyway. If the Commander found out that she had let the Collectors take her he would likely assume she had done it on purpose, to deprive him of a potential ally. It's what she would have thought.

She put a restraining arm on Garrus's shoulder. "I'll go."

"The hell you will. You…."

She'd had enough of this shit. "Regardless of what you or even Shepard would prefer, I am the second in command of this mission. Williams doesn't have time for us to bicker about this. I am going, you are going to stay here and do your fucking job! Cover me and Shepard as best you can, but Shepard takes priority."

With that she flung herself over the lip of the roof. She hit the walkway below in a roll to diffuse the impact and took off in the direction they had last seen Williams. She ran doubled over, using the low wall around the outside of the walkway as much as possible to remain hidden. The building she was on was two stories taller than the one the Collectors had moved behind and she used the height advantage to survey the colony layout ahead of her and plan her interception. So far she hadn't seen any kind of shuttles or landing crafts so it was likely that they carried their victims straight back to their. She could see the monstrous thing parked at the edge of the colony, looking like a demented shipwright had built a ship into an asteroid. That meant that she could probably predict their path and set up an ambush.

She selected a spot a few buildings down where they would have to move through a place where the buildings were close together. If she could get above them she would be able to drop down on them, taking them by surprise and hopefully eliminating them before they could react. Moving over the rooftops she started towards it. Halfway there her comlink crackled to life. She listened as Shepard and EDI detailed a plan to get the defenses the Alliance had installed up and running. She considered for a second telling Shepard about what she was doing but decided against it. He had enough to worry about. Instead she comm'd Garrus.

"I am almost in position. I've got this, but it sounds like Shepard is about to be flooded. Do what you can to thin out his attackers before they arrive."

She half expected the Turian to fight her on this but his reply was devoid of any sarcasm or disagreement.

"Got it. Let me know if you need help."

It looked like she had made an impression. She ran on. Thanks to her elevation she was able to travel in more or less a straight line, and she got to her chosen position almost thirty seconds before the Collectors rounded the corner and entered the alley.

They had transferred Williams to some kind of pod, which now floated between them as they walked. Miranda waited until they were directly underneath her and the leapt off of her building. She fired as she fell, shredding the collector's barrier and a planting a heel in one of its eyes. The collector let out a buzzing shriek and she rode its twitching body to the ground, landing in a crouch with her other foot on its throat and her weapon already tracking towards its compatriot. The attack had apparently taken the other guard by surprise and it was only just beginning to bring its weapon up. She emptied the rest of her thermal clip into its face. The flashes of rounds impacting its barrier blinded it and its first few shots went wide. Before it could recover she reached out with her biotics and smashed the floating stasis pod into its gut. The collector staggered, giving her opportunity to draw her heavy pistol and finish it off. The collector under her struggled weakly and she absentmindedly put two into it before stepping off the body.

The stasis pod bumped into her hip, causing her to look down. It was floating freely; the second guard's body slumped across it and causing it to sway in place. She shoved the body aside, clearing the lid and letting her see inside. Chief Williams could have been sleeping, her body slack and eyes closed. Miranda ran her fingers around the edge of the translucent section, looking for the latch. Her fingers found a seam and with a grunt she popped the capsule open. A wave of foul musty air billowed forth and she took a step back, her mind growing fuzzy for a moment. That air must have contained some kind of sedative because as it flowed out Williams woke up.

The marine sat up in the pod, eyes darting left and right and hands instinctively reaching for a weapon. Her gaze locked on Miranda and she seemed to relax a little; that was until she saw the black and gold logo on Miranda's uniform.

"Cerberus." She growled, hands coming up on a defensive posture. "Get the hell away from me."

Miranda sighed. "I just saved your bloody life woman, calm down."

Williams swung her legs over the side of the pod and slid out, eyes never leaving Miranda. "I don't know what kinda trick you are playing bitch, but if you take one step towards me I swear I will end you."

Before she could make a reply, the massive guns scattered around the colony came to life. As one they swiveled towards the Collector ship and began to fire. Thunder split the air as massive kinetic bolts started to hammer into the stationary target. Shepard must have done it.

Williams looked around wildly. "The colonists! They must have gotten the targeting system working. Fuck, they're going to get swarmed!"

Miranda held her hands up. "Don't let me stop you. Go, help them, I am sure it will be… enlightening… for you."

The Alliance officer shot her a suspicious look, but she also listened to her, retreating in the direction of the main courtyard. If she didn't turn her back on Miranda until after she was out of sight that hardly bothered Miranda. She had agreed to rescue the woman because it would help her get in closer with Shepard. What happened after Williams and Shepard saw each other again wasn't her business. Miranda had a feeling she knew why the Gunnery Chief was on this planet to begin with, and it disgusted her. The Illusive Man had been keeping a close eye on all of Shepard's old allies, and if he had sent them here there was a very good chance he had been the one to arrange for Williams to be here too. Miranda believed fully in her mission, and that of Cerberus, but using an entire colony as bait went beyond even her questionable morals.

With a mental sigh she turned and started to head back for a ladder that would lead her back to Garrus's shooting position, it was time to get off this damn planet.


	6. Chapter 5

I was fucking pissed. I had been able to keep it concealed during the shuttle ride back from Horizon. I had concealed it while going over the after action report with the team. I had even mostly kept a leash on it during my conference with the Illusive Man. But as soon as the doors to my cabin had slid shut, I could not contain it any more.

That fucking son-of-a-bitch had set me up. Worse, he had set up one of MY people. It didn't matter that the bastard's theory about the Collectors targeting people affiliated with me had turned out to be accurate, he had no goddamn right to endanger my people without at the very least a fucking courtesy call. If we hadn't gotten there in time the Collectors might have gotten away with the entire colony, including Ashley; who had only been there because that motherfucker had pulled strings in the Alliance.

Which was another fucking thing. He had apparently slipped the Alliance the news that I was alive and working with Cerberus; neither of which were things I had wanted them to know yet damn it. I had no illusions about my ability to keep my appearance quite from the Alliance forever, but I had planned to manage the reveal a little better. Instead of a careful reconnection with them they now assumed I was part of one of the premier human terrorist organizations. Which ok, was superficially true, but they wouldn't look deeper than that. Now I had to accelerate my plans. I could still reach out to Anderson. He would probably be at least willing to talk to me. I had been hoping to recruit Ashley too, start to get my life back to normal, but that plan was shot to hell now.

Thanks to the varren-fucker she now assumed I had just ignored her for two years. Everything I said now would be seen as suspicious. I could probably talk her over given the chance, but I didn't know how to set that chance up yet. None of that would be a problem if some overdressed, egotistical little shit hadn't fucked it all up.

I was starting to spiral and I knew it. If I let this continue there was no telling how long I would just sit up here and fume. I needed to distract myself. Making very sure to keep a lid on my frustration I tapped the intercom on my desk.

"Kelly, could you please ask Jack to come see me, I would like to go over her performance during the mission." I was pretty sure that the crew knew we were fucking but I went through motions anyway.

"Certainly Commander.' The quality of the Cerberus speakers was perfect, making it sound as if the perky red head was in the room with me and it was easy to pick up on the uncertainty in her voice. "Um, Commander, are you ok? Do you want to talk about what happened?"

I suppressed my frustration even more. "No Kelly, thank you for asking. Notify me when Jack is on her way."

I terminated the connection before she could probe any deeper. It was apparent by now that the pretty yeoman was a deliberate trap. She was just far too friendly and caring. Likely she was supposed to attract my attention, and once I had taken her begin feeding information back to the Illusive Man. I made a mental note to come up with a new codename for him next time I talked with Garrus, the Illusive Man was just too dignified for that backstabbing son of a fuck. That train of thought continued until my comm beeped and Kelly informed me that Jack was on her way.

Right on the heels of her message I heard the elevator chime. I stopped my passing and tried to lean casually against the fish tank. Don't ask me why I had a fish tank, there was no good reason for it and the fucking things kept dying on me, but I kept it anyway. Who knew, maybe I could drown the Illusive Man in it someday. It would be difficult, but I was willing to try really hard.

The elevator doors slid open and Jack sauntered out. She was grinning and almost bursting with restrained energy. It was a new look for her and for a moment I just stared. She saw me staring, misinterpreted the meaning behind it and put a little more sway into her hips.

"Oh my fucking god!" she gushed, as excited as a teenager who just stole their first beer. "Did you fucking see us today? We were fucking unstoppable. God damn we kick ass."

It was nice to see that somebody thought our mission had been a success. I just scowled at her. Her steps faltered a little as she drew closer.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

I ground my teeth a little and my reply came out a rougher than I had intended. "The Illusive Man set us up."

She didn't even look surprised. "So? He's a prick, big fucking deal."

My voice grew harder. "He put an entire colony at risk."

She spun her fingers in little circles, and put on a mock shocked expression. "Oh no! The sadistic little shit who experimented on Rachni and plant zombies, gasp, put civilians at risk! You already knew he was trash, so what is your problem?"

"They almost got Ashley!" I shouted. It came boiling out before I could stop it and I instantly regretted saying it. Jack burst out in mocking laughter.

"Are you shitting me? The great commander Shepard is all whiny because his ex was in danger? In case you weren't paying attention, she dumped your ass, hard. Put on your big boy panties and man the fuck up."

The rage and frustration I had been feeling ever since leaving the planet boiled over. In my mind I saw the Collector ship taking off with over half the colonists onboard, saw the smug look of satisfaction on the Illusive Man's face as he told me he had arranged it all, and worst of all I saw Ashley turning her back on me. My body moved without my input and I slammed Jack up against the fish tank, hand curling around her slender throat.

"You are a disrespectful, spiteful little bitch, did you know that?" My voice was low and hard and full of a dark hunger. My body thrummed with energy. I had restrained myself too long and now I needed a release; I needed to fight, or to fuck.

Jack must have read my intention in my eyes because hers started to smolder with a feral light as she gasped out. "And what the fuck are you going to do about it?"

I slapped her hard, then kissed her. She let out a pleased little sound and kissed me back, straining against the hand I still held at her throat. It was hot and intense and it stoked the fires inside both of us. Her nails clawed their way down my back, drawing delicious stands of fire under my shirt. A moment later I broke the kiss by shoving her back against the glass again.

"You need to be taught a lesson." I growled and slapped her again. Her cheeks and lips were flushed and glowing from the slaps and kiss, but her eyes were hard and challenging. The corners of her mouth curled up in an impudent little smile. Everything about her body and her bearing was challenging, daring, inviting, but it was that smile that really did it.

I popped open the front of my pants and shoved her down to her knees. She put up a little resistance but we both knew she wasn't really trying. My hand on her throat moved to the back of her head and the other pulled my cock out of my pants. As fired up as I was the anger hadn't yet fully translated into lust and I was only at about half-mast. It made a great sound when I slapped her with it though. It sounded so good in fact that I did it again, slapping her other cheek with my dick. Her eyes were huge from this angle and the pupils were dilated in excitement. I rested my head on her lips and leered at her.

"Suck it." I ordered.

She started slow, lips opening just enough to let her lick the tip, then sucking just a bit. The touch was light and playful and any other time I would have let her continue, but not today. As soon as her lips parted enough to let me in fully I thrust forward. Her eyes flared and she took half of me before rocking back and trying to pull away. I let her and she spluttered for a moment.

"What the fuck Shepard you can't just…" I shoved it back in, cutting off the rest of her complaint. Jack talked a big game, it was time to show her just who was in charge here. Her muffled protests turned into sloppy slurping noises as I fucked the bitch's face. I took out my frustration for not being able to save the colonists on Jack's throat, dick sliding between her petulant lips over and over. . After only a few moments her face a mess, mascara running like dark tears and slobber covering her mouth and running down my balls. She was doing well though, taking me deep over and over. I moved both of my hands to the back of her head and thrust even harder, going all the way in. I held her down, her lipstick smearing around my base and my dick down the back of her throat. Her eyes began to roll up into her head and she slapped frantically at my legs. I held her for half a second longer, proving my point, then just as she started to quiver and trill I pulled out, a thick strand of saliva still connecting us. She hauled in a deep breath and sat there panting for a second. The view of her down there, covered in spit and sweat and all fucking mine was intoxicating and it pulled an orgasm out of me faster than I had expected. My load shot out and splattered her face and chest; the cum only adding to the erotic mess. Her breathing began to grow more steady and her tongue came out to clean the cum off her lips, eyes never leaving mine.

I hauled her to her feet and kissed her. Her lips were plump and flushed and she tasted so delightfully dirty. I cupped one hand around her ass, and the other found the clasps at the back of her harness. I broke the kiss and leaned back to look into her eyes.

"Have you learned your lesson slut?" I could hear the leer in my voice, tempered with the hope that she said no.

Her eyes were hooded and inviting as she growled. "Fuck you Commander."

That was exactly what I had been hoping she would say. I pivoted and threw her towards my bed. I never took my hand off her top though and as she stumbled away it came free in my hand. She moved with the throw, her breasts bouncing as she took a pair of stutter steps to correct her balance; just in time for my follow up shove to knock her back again. She crashed backwards onto my bed and I was right behind her, following her onto the mattress and pinning her wrists. Our lips met again, her teeth digging into my lower lip. She growled into my mouth, body writhing beneath me. I slid my leg up between hers and started to grind it against her, eliciting a gasp that released my lip.

I moved her hands together above her head so I could pin both with only one hand and brought the other one down to play with her breasts, smearing together sweat and semen. She struggled beneath me but I kept the pressure on her crotch, continuing to grind my knee against her pussy through the pants. I wasn't gentle about it and her moans mixed pleasure and pain.

"You are good little cock sucker Jack. I think I am going to reward you."

Her reply wasn't so much as words as another needy moan. I withdrew my knee and she made a plaintive little sound. Her hips rolled, seeking the sensation they had just had. I slid my hand down from her breasts and slipped it beneath the front of her pants. Her hips bucked, pressing hard against my touch, urging me forward. Moving my hand in small circles I started to massage her clit as I began to trail kisses down her neck to her right breast. As I neared it I cupped my hand and slid two fingers inside her at the same moment I took her nipple into my mouth. Kissing and sucking on it, I rocked my hand back and forth, palm still working on her clit as I moved my fingers in and out. Her nipple got even harder and I bit down on it. I stayed like that for several long seconds, feeling her grow needier and needier under me. As the pace of her hips quickened I withdrew my hand, eliciting another wordless protest.

"Not yet." I whispered. With several quick motions I undid the front of her pants. I released her wrists and she immediately tried to touch herself. I batted her hands aside and slapped her again.

"I said not yet. Be a good little bitch or I will punish you." I growled.

She shot me a look that mixed challenge, frustration and need, but she didn't try to touch herself again. Good. Wrapping my fingers around both her pants and panties I whipped them both off in a single pull. Her thighs were slick and the combined sweat and juices made her tattoos glisten.

"Turn over slut." I ordered.

She complied quickly, rolling onto her belly.

"Good. Now, ass up."

Her hips came up, giving me a fantastic view of her pussy and asshole. My dick was semi hard again and I considered jumping right to the main attraction, but I decided against it. There was no rush, and she had earned this. Reaching out I pulled her to me and started to kiss around her hips. I started just above her asshole and worked in a slowly contracting spiral that ended at her clit. She moaned as my lips touched hers and I thought she was going to cum right there. She didn't, and I started to run my tongue up and down her slit. The taste of her drove me wild and I could feel the pressure building in my cock as I worked. Her moans didn't hurt the process either, they were deep and primal and completely lacking in self-restraint. I ran one hand over her ass then slapped it and she shuddered. Never taking my mouth from her I began to alternate cheeks, working out my frustration with the Alliance knowing I was alive on her ass. Cries and expletives started to mix with her moans. Their rhythm built and as it peaked I spanked her harder than ever and buried my tongue inside her as far as it would go. That drove her over the edge. Her orgasm was powerful and I had to hold on tight to keep my mouth pressed to her pussy the entire time.

She started to slump as it finished but I caught her and held her hips up. Her orgasm had been just what I needed and my cock was almost painfully erect again. I stepped up onto the bed, shoving her roughly forward a bit to make room. I ran the head of my dick up and down her slit a couple of times, letting her cum get me all wet. She wriggled, trying to get me to slip in and I smiled.

"Do you want something slut?"

"Please. Please fuck me." She had learned her lessons well. It had taken several encounters but she was beginning to understand how this worked. I absently started to rub my head against her clit and her hip motion intensified. I weighed things in my head. On one hand she had asked the way she should have, on the other she was still a disrespectful little bitch when we weren't fucking. I doubted I could change that, but that didn't mean I had to stop trying. I decided to split the difference.

I lined myself up. "You ready bitch?"

"Yes." She moaned.

I slipped my cock an inch into her ass. She let out an explosive cry of " FUCK" and I felt her entire body grow rigid. For a second she tried to pull away and I slapped her ass hard. She stopped and I started to move back and forth slowly. She was tighter than I had expected and I wondered if this was her first time doing anal. I restrained myself a little incase it was, only going in about half way.

"Fuck Shepard, give a girl a little warning you prick."

"Good girls get warnings, disrespectful little whores don't." I chastised her.

"Fuck you." She growled, starting to push herself up.

So much for going easy on her. I gave her my whole dick. Her voice cracked as she cried out again. While she was distracted I reached out and pulled her arms out from under her. She started to fall again but I hauled her up, her back arching as she pulled back against me. I used her resistance as a counter point and I started to fuck her ass again. I held her there, back arched and breasts bouncing with every thrust. She let out another sound, this one low and drawn out and filled with pleasure. I knew she would enjoy this. I picked up the pace a little bit but didn't go as deep again. I didn't want to break her ass after all, I had just needed to prove my point. She started to move back against me like she had the first time we fucked, guiding my cock a little deeper.

"If you are going to fuck my ass, at least do it right."

The attitude surprised me, but I was more than happy to accommodate her. I picked up the pace, and as I did I thought of the last thing I was angry about, Ashley. I thought of how she had rejected me, right there in front of everybody, all but calling me a traitor. It wasn't fucking fair, she knew who I was, I had allowed her to see me, she thought I could ever turn my back on her? This was all the Illusive Man's fault damn it, that fucker was trying to deny me assets and allies because he was jealous of my power. I would show him, I would show all of them just how powerful I was.

I drove into Jack, proving myself on her. My hips and balls made wet slapping sounds as they crashed into her, the sound almost lost under Jack's frantic cries. I was yelling too, but it just felt right so I didn't fucking care. A light blue glow began to emanate from her body. I faintly wondered if I should be worried about it, but was too caught up in my own building orgasm to really care. Just before I came I pulled out, shooting my second load all over her ass. My orgasm pushed her over the edge and she came in a literally explosive fashion. A wave of biotic energy bursting out from her, knocking me over entirely and wreaking havoc on my room. I fell off the bed and she collapsed to the mattress, completely spent.

I lay there dazed, just staring at my cabin's ceiling until the shapes and colors began to resolve themselves into recognizable shapes. When I was fairly certain again which way was up I used to bed to guide myself to my feet. That had been an intense session and I felt completely drained. Jack was where I had left her, slumped on my bed and covered in sweat and cum. My dick gave a desultory twitch but didn't have the energy to get back up. Between the intensity of that last orgasm and getting my head bashed against the floor I wasn't surprised. From a drawer in the night stand I pulled out a towel and cleaned myself off. The towel was infused with a sanitation gel and would work until I could snag a shower.

On the bed Jack started to stir. I sat down next to her and admired the light played off her skin as she slid out of her boneless sprawl and into a more natural position. I let my own body slide back, relaxing and letting my mind wander. My head felt clearer than it had since getting off the planet and I needed that clarity to decide what the next step was going to be. The Illusive Man's actions had limited some of my previous choices and I would need to…

I was brought out of my contemplation by Jack's hand wrapping itself rather forcefully around my balls. She had apparently woken up and was glaring at me. I noted with some concern that her hand was again glowing blue.

"Good, I have you attention." Her voice was cold. "We need to clear something up Shepard. I like the rough stuff. That face fucking? Hot. The names and dirty talk? Loved it. But if you ever try to fuck my ass again without my permission? I will smear the walls with you. I am not your whore, I am not your toy, I am not your fucking property."

She growled that last part and the pressure on my balls increased.

"I like fucking you Shepard, but if I say stop, you fucking stop. If I say no, that fucking means no. Do we understand each other?"

I was taken completely off guard by her intensity and for a moment I just stared. This was such a bizarre parody of what we had gone through that first night I just didn't know how to respond. Of course I didn't think she was property. I tried to answer but I couldn't find my voice, then the pressure on my balls increased again and suddenly it was there.

"Yes." I wheezed. "Yes I understand."

"Good, my turn then." Her mouth curled up in a predatory smile and she climbed on top of me. Her pussy was still wet and it slid deliciously against me. She reached down and guided my still soft dick inside of her.

Jack had shifted gears so fast I was pretty sure I had whiplash and I desperately tried to make sense of what was going on. The way she was rolling her hips wasn't making it any easier to think. Combined with the insistent beeping from my desk I could barely… wait beeping?

The insistent chime of a priority message was sounding from the intercom. The familiar sound, universal on all Alliance, and apparently Cerberus, ships bypassed my conscious thought and went straight to reflex. One of my hands shot out to slap the nightstand comm and I barely had the presence of mind to remember to only activate the audio.

"Commander, it's Miranda. Do you have a moment to talk?"

Both Jack and I looked at the comm at the same time, then back at each other. Her smile turned positively wicked and she increased her hip movements. I glared at her, then the comm, and then back at her. She added a roll to the grinding motion. Fucking insufferable woman.

"Commander are you there?" Now Miranda sounded concerned.

With a mental sigh I resigned myself to whatever hell this would bring and spoke, trying to sound groggy and distracted. It wasn't hard.

"Sorry, yes Miranda I am here. What do you need?"

"I am sorry Commander, did I wake you?"

I glared at Jack. "Something like that. What can I do for you Miranda?"

She took a moment to answer, and when she did she sounded slightly uncertain. "Commander, I believe we might have gotten off on the wrong foot. I was wondering if we could take some time to clear the air. I will start by admitting that I was wrong this morning, and I apologizing for my outburst in the meeting."

My jaw didn't quite drop but it came close. I looked at Jack expecting to see my surprise mirrored on her face. Instead, she was glaring at me. I got the feeling that I needed to cut this conversation short.

"I think that is a great idea Miranda, and I apologize for cutting you down the way I did. I will visit your office in the morning and we can hash things out."

"That is perfect Shepard. Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow." I said and signed off. As soon as the intercom beeped conformation of the call's end Jack slapped me.

I glared at her and demanded. "What the fuck is your problem?"

"You want to fuck her!" She accused.

"Excuse me?"

"Your fucking dick got hard when she apologized you ass."

I looked at Jack blandly. "So?"

She glared down at me from atop my very erect penis. "So you want to fuck her you asshole."

I smiled coldly at her. "So do you."

That took her completely off guard and her hips actually stopped their grinding motion, which I regretted. Her face went through several emotions before settling into a scowl.

"No I don't!" She tried to make it sound convincing but failed.

"Jack I've seen you watching her, you stare at her ass more than I do."

She stared at me silence and I laughed. I couldn't help myself, she was just so fucking obvious it was funny. "You gave her a nickname for fucks sake. Just accept it. Miranda is a sexy woman and you want to fuck her brains out. Doesn't mean you like her. Fuck. I bet you want to fuck her face just I like I fucked yours earlier."

She turned scarlet, whether in anger or embarrassment I wasn't sure.

"So let's stop pretending we don't both want to fuck her Jack, hell, maybe one day we can fuck her together. But right now." I bucked my hips, thrusting back into her. "I want to fuck you."

Her glare didn't go away but her hips started to move again. "Fine. But shut the fuck up, Shepard."

* * *

Miranda was not totally sure why she had done that. She had monitored the Commander ever since they left Horizon, wondering if he would figure out what she had. He hadn't shown any sign of it on the shuttle ride up or during the after action reports. It was only after his meeting with the Illusive Man that she had begun to suspect something was up. Usually after a mission he would spend some time wandering and talking with the crew, getting their input on the latest action. This time though he had gone straight to his room. She had mirrored him, returning to her office to monitor the cameras she'd placed in the captain's cabin before the Normandy ever left dry dock.

It had been clear something was bothering him by the way he had paced the room. It had been like watching a caged animal in a too small enclosure. When he had summoned Jack she had prepared to stop watching, she had seen enough of their sexual sessions to realize that he didn't let Jack draw important information out of him, and she was tired of the way their sex always got to her. But as soon as the crazy woman had gotten into his room Shepard had unloaded on her. Miranda had been fascinated by the emotional outburst. It was clear that Shepard had figured out the same thing she had about who set Horizon up, and that he was even less happy about it then she was. That was to be expected, nobody liked being used, especially not a man like Shepard, but then came his final protest.

"They almost got Ashley!"

That was interesting. Miranda doubted Jack had noticed it, but her bugs were very good and she had picked up on the hurt in Shepard's voice. It was clear to her that that was what had been eating at the Commander. Not the risk, not being used, but that Williams had been in danger. Miranda had kept watching hoping for another insight into the man. She threw a guilty glance at the toy that sat on her desk. Ok, she had done more than watch and that still bothered her; but it had become a necessary accommodation if she wanted to keep monitoring these sessions, and was part of the reason she had stopped watching most of them. She hated that even from behind a screen Shepard had this kind of power over her. But this time had seemed important so she had given in, and fuck had it been intense. Miranda didn't normally go in for that kind of thing, there was very little technique or skill to it but she could not deny the raw passion of the session. She had cum the same time that Shepard had, just before that crazy bitch had lost control of her powers and blown out all of Miranda's cameras.

There she had been, sitting in the sudden darkness, panting, suit open, one hand clutching a dripping toy and completely unable to see or hear into what was probably the most important moment of intelligence gathering she could have asked for. Frantically she had scrambled to get the feed back but the bugs were fried. She'd racked her brain, trying to figure out what to do. Then, without knowing exactly why, she had called him. There had been no plan and she hadn't even known what she was going to say. She had sat there, letting the comm ring and wondering if he would even pick up.

And then he had and her words just came tumbling out. Thinking about them now she could come up with a few justifications. She told herself that it was clear that the Illusive Man had lost some of Shepard's trust today and that she needed to keep him on a tighter leash. Her actions could also possibly put a wedge between Shepard and Jack, giving her a lever she could use to separate them. So you can take her place, a voice whispered in her head. She tried to ignore that voice. That wasn't what she wanted, she wanted to remove Jack because she was a threat to the plan to control Shepard, not because she wanted to replace her.

Her eyes flicked traitorously to the toy again. NO , she told herself sternly, that was not why damn it. Another part of her though, the cold calculating part that made her such an effective covert operative, suggested that she would still be serving her mission. Shepard obviously confided in his lovers once he was comfortable with them, what better way to keep tabs on him. She'd done it before, several times, why would this be any different?

She shook her head and angrily pushed away from her desk. She needed to clear her head and staring at the no signal notification from her terminal wasn't helping. A few minutes of pacing helped her resolve her thoughts. She would start by talking with Shepard, see if they could reach a comfortable working relationship, and if that alone didn't work… well she would make that call when it came to it.

Out of the corner of her eye she noted the time on her monitor. It was past 1am ship's time, over an hour since her cameras had gone down. With a sigh she stripped out of her jumpsuit, threw it into the laundry chute and headed to bed. She would need to be rested for her meeting with Shepard tomorrow.

* * *

An hour later I lay in bed, Jack beside me. The first couple of minutes after Miranda's call had been awkward as we fucked in a frustrated silence; but we had found a... constructive... way to work through our issues. I made a soft sound of discomfort as I shifted, the blankets brushing across one of the many new scratches crisscrossing my back. Next to me Jack mumbled a half-hearted "pussy" and snuggled a little closer to me.

My mind was again clear though and so I set about the task of planning my future. The first step would have to be damage control with the Alliance and the Council. That would mean going to the Citadel. Garrus had mentioned that he had business there so we could take care of that, and there were some contacts I would like to look in on. I would have to come up with a story to spin for the Alliance, and might as well try to get my Spectre status reinstated while I was at it.

After the Citadel would be Illium. Two of the new dossiers that had been waiting for me when I arrived back on ship originated in Illium and Garrus said that Liara was set up there. Ashley might be beyond my reach at the moment, but perhaps I could convince Liara to come back. There were also a couple of upgrades to the Normandy's systems I would like to perform, a new main gun and improved armor for a start. After that, I wasn't totally clear on what came next but I was sure that opportunities would present themselves.

Beside me Jack stirred and sat up a bit, propping herself up with her elbows.

"I have a question." She sounded more like she was asking if she had one than like she actually did.

"What is it?" I was only half paying attention, my mind still wandering down the causality chains of an idea.

"Why were you so pissed off that the dickhead used your ex?"

I was slightly surprised that she still remembered that. A half dozen lies and excuses sprang to mind but I discarded them. Jack was mine now, she deserved the truth.

"I was angry because the Illusive Man risked one of my people. Yeah Ash is an ex, but she is still part of my squad. She agreed to follow me, and that makes her safety my responsibility."

Jack looked confused at the idea. "But she ditched you? I mean, she dumped you hard man, why do you still care about the bitch?"

I sighed. "Because she didn't have all the information. Ashley always had the option to leave if that was what she decided, but I expected her to make that decision based on her interactions with me. The Illusive Man - fuck we need something else to call him- leaked information to Alliance which poisoned her opinion of me. That is not ok with me. Loyalty deserves loyalty and that shit sack fucked it up for me."

Now Jack just looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. "You are an odd man Shepard. You can be a fucking beast, in bed and in the field, but here you are getting all fucking mushy on me. Let me see if can make sense of this shit. Williams was one of your old squad and what? Girlfriend?"

"Lover." I corrected.

"Fine whatever. She was your, lover , and then your ship blew up and you spent two years as a science experiment for the Cerberus bitch."

"Yes."

"Now you're back, fucking me, and the shit sack is using your ex as bait for the Collectors."

I took special note of the way she inserted herself into the narrative there and I thought I started to get an idea where this was going. I nodded and she continued.

"So you are upset because your ex, who has dumped you based on shit intel, was put at risk?"

She wasn't really mocking me, there was a little too much intensity in the way she was asking her questions for that to be true, but she was trying to make it seem like she was.

"Yes, Ashley earned my loyalty and protection, like several of my crew have." I locked eyes with her. "Like you have."

She looked away quickly, but not before I saw her blush just slightly. "You're a sentimental idiot Shepard. Loyalty doesn't exist, just mutual convenience. One day you won't need me, or I won't need you and that will be that. No fucking sense in denying it. That just how the galaxy works."

"Jack, I don't give a shit how the galaxy works, it's not how I work. I protect my people, my crew, my squad." I reached out and turned her face back to mine. "My lovers."

Her eyes brimmed just a little and she tried to it behind her hard ass bitch persona. "Don't flatter yourself Shepard. At most you're a competent fuck buddy."

I smiled. "I also protect my fuck buddies. If you don't like that you are free to walk away, but as long as you're part of my crew, you are under my protection. If you need my help, just ask for it, because I am asking everything of you, you should be able to ask the same."

She blinked a couple of times and then a hard little light replaced the unshed tears. "Good, because there is something I need from you you sentimental son of a bitch. I found where they made me who I am. I want you to bring me there, and I want to blow it the fuck up."

My lips curled in a slow smile. "It's a date."


	7. Chapter 6

The Citadel turned out to be a mixed bag. After waiting through some bureaucratic bullshit about coming back from the dead – because of course they have forms for that – I was able to get in to see Udina. I had been hoping to speak to Anderson or another Alliance officer but he was willing to listen to my side of the story and promised to pass it along to the Navy. I wasn't sure just how much good it would do but it was something. He did however arrange a meeting with the rest of the council, and after a little negotiating we reached an understanding. They would reinstate me a Spectre and in return I would stay out of council space while I was working with Cerberus. It wasn't ideal, but it would work. I had intended to do just what I'd agreed and depart the Citadel as soon as I had helped a few of my crew with side projects. I'd been on my way off the station after helping Garrus kill the traitorous fucker who had set his team up. It had technically been murder though so I'd had been pretty keen on getting out asap. Then Miranda had forwarded me the dossier on a master thief I was supposed to be recruiting.

So now, instead of fleeing the system in accordance with my agreement with the Council, I was instead sitting in a luxury air car, going to a fancy party being thrown by a paranoid interstellar arms dealer who I was supposed to rob. My life was never dull.

In the seat next to me Miranda sat trying not to rumple her dress while she and Kasumi went over the revised mission details. The original plan that the thief had come up with had come up with had called for just me and her to infiltrate the party, but I had insisted on bringing a second person. I would have preferred somebody I absolutely trusted but none were available. Garrus was still working through his own inner demons, and Jack would have stood out like, well like Jack at a fancy dress party. Out of all of the remaining squad members Miranda was the most logical choice. And, to be honest, since our conversation the morning after Horizon the ice wall between us had started to melt. This would be a good opportunity to expand on that progress. And she really did look amazing in that dress, the crisscross patern on the front managing to remain socially acceptable while at the same time showing off generous amounts of cleavage and under boob.

From the backseat Kasumi explained the plan, again. "You're cover is…"

"My cover is Solomon Gunn, leader of a small but talented mercenary group working the Terminus system. Miranda is Sarah Walker, my personal aid and chief requisitions officer. You are Kimiko Hamada, my companion and bodyguard. We are here to network and show our respect to a fellow outlaw without ever saying as much. Our gift is a giant statue of the last major asshole that I killed and it is filled to the brim with the guns that I am not allowed to bring into the polite social gathering. Once we are inside we need to locate the vault, disable the security and gain entry. At that point we retrieve Keiji's gray box and make our way out of the party unnoticed. Did I miss anything?"

I tried to affect an accent similar to Miranda's while speaking and she glared at me.

"You left out the part where something goes horribly wrong and we end up having to shoot our way out through a small army of guards." She said in a flawless copy of my own accent.

I grinned, I think Garrus was starting to rub off on her. "So pessimistic Ms. Walker."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not pessimism Mr. Gunn, it's just an accurate description of how our missions usually end up."

From the back of the air car Kasumi giggled then chimed in. "I planned most of this mission Ms. Walker,

hopefully we can avoid the pattern this time, Hock has something more along the lines of a medium army of guards."

That put a bit of a damper on the rest of the conversation and we all sort of retreated into introspection until we reached the party. I was the first one out of the air car and turned to give Miranda a hand up. The early evening light made the rich reds of the dress even deeper and slight shadows only accentuated her figure. I didn't bother to keep the appreciation off my face as I helped her out, she normally hated it, but this time I thought I caught the hint of a smirk. Did I imagined it? or had she really just… that would need looking into.

Kasumi followed us out and fell into step on my right. When I had met the woman she had been concealed in shadows and everything since then had been fairly frantic, so this was my first chance to get a real look at her. She was on the smaller side, shorter than Miranda and just a hair taller than Jack. Her face was concealed with a deep hood but I got the hint of Asian features. Her body was tight and athletic, with perky tits and a cute little ass. Her outfit was form fitting, and I expected everything about it was designed to help her bend and slither through tight places. That got me thinking about other things she could bend or slither over. I was pretty sure I was leering when the guard scanning our tribute to Mr. Hock held up a hand to stop me.

"Just one moment sir, there seems to be an issue with the statue."

Before I could answer him though, a smooth voice cut in. "Is there a problem here?"

The guard started and looked over his shoulder at the man descending the stairs. He was in his late prime, in a richly tailor white suit and wearing a scowl. The guard stammered for a second.

"No Mr. Hock. Just running a scan."

Ah, so this was our infamous host. Kasumi took a step to put herself between us and leaned casually back against me. She felt good there and my arm moved on its own to slide possessively around her waist. On my other side Miranda rolled her eyes. Hock finished descending the stairs and stood impressively on the last one, giving himself the barest height advantage over me.

"I don't believe we've met. Donovan Hock." His eyes and voice were cold, just bordering on rude.

I considered offering him my hand, but it was currently around Kasumi's waist and that was a much more pleasant place for it. Instead I gave him an obvious once over as I drawled my reply.

"Solomon Gunn." I motioned with my free hand to Miranda. "My chief requisitions officer, Ms. Walker. And the lovely creature on my hip is Kimiko. I have heard a lot about you Mr. Hock."

Hock gave both women an even more obvious once over then I had given him and this time I am certain I saw Miranda frown minutely, Kasumi it seemed couldn't have cared less and she draped herself against me.

"And I have heard a lot about you. You have been quite busy recently if the extranet is to be believed."

The security guard saved me from having to make a reply. "Sir, the scanners aren't picking anything up."

Hock moved over to inspect the statue. "I don't think our guests would come all the way here from Illium just to cause trouble. Do you?"

The guard shrugged and Hock turned back to me. "You may pass through, Mr. Gunn, with my apologies."

His eyes flicked to Kasumi, and to the hand I was using to trace little circles on her hip. "But I will ask your companion to remain outside. You understand I hope."

I felt her tense against me. Was this him exacting a petty injustice to prove his mastery of his domain? Or did he suspect who she really was? What would happen if I pushed him on this? I went for a roundabout attempt to gather a little more information.

"And Ms. Walker?"

Hock again looked Miranda over, his eyes lingering on her breasts a second or two longer than was socially acceptable. "Ms. Walker may enter. I would not want to deprive either of us of any, business opportunities."

Well that didn't help. Was he just greedy? Lecherous? Or did he suspect something of Kasumi specifically? It didn't really matter, regardless of his reason he had made his will known, fighting him on it now would just result in all of us being expelled from the party. I bowed my head to Hock.

"It is your party Mr. Hock. If you will excuse me."

I steered Kasumi and away from the entrance and casual earshot. Miranda stayed behind to fuss over the statue and cause a bit of a distraction for me. Regardless of our past tension she really was a superb field agent. When I thought we were somewhere we couldn't be easily overheard I faced Kasumi.

"Well that didn't go as planned." Her voice was pitched low, despite the distance.

"Now what?"

"You and Miranda should get inside. I will make my own way in."

I nodded. "Ok, we will mingle for a bit to give you a chance to look around. Let me know how you need us to help."

"Got it Shep, now get in there, we are going to start attracting attention." She pushed away from me and started to walk towards our air car. I took the hint and returned to Miranda and we started up the steps together.

The next twenty minutes or so were spent moving from one group of guests to another. As I talked and mingled I sank more and more into my Solomon Gunn role. I came up with details to flush out the things people had heard on the extranet, even set up two consultations for the following week to haggle out prices for mercenary work. Miranda ghosted along at my side, playing the dutiful assistant and jotting down notes and making appointments. Once she even added to one of my stories, interjecting details about a gang of Batarian slavers we had chased away from a mining complex. Truth be told I was enjoying myself.

I was in the middle of a conversation when Kasumi's voice drifted through my earpiece. "I think she wants to fuck you Shepard."

Her voice caught me by surprise and I missed the next thing the woman I was talking with said. I recovered myself and grinned sheepishly. "I am sorry, I missed that, what were you saying?"

The woman, a striking redhead who had introduced herself as Abigaile Kellis, gave me a mischievous smile. "Did I ask an inappropriate question Mr. Gunn?"

There was an intriguing light in her eyes while she asked it, and I couldn't help but take note of the way her dress plunged in the front. "I am sorry Ms. Kellis, I am afraid I was distracted."

She let out a pleased little laugh. "Did you see something you liked?"

Oh, she was a fun girl, if I had more time I would have loved to see where this would lead, but if Kasumi knew I was talking to a woman, then she was probably inside the party. "Several things, but also somebody I must go speak with, you gave your information to Ms. Walker?"

Kellis had introduced herself and her partner, a man named Sander, as dealers in hard to acquire assets. I hoped she had giving Miranda her contact info. Even ignoring this thing between Kellis and I, it was always handy to have a smuggler or two on file.

"I have. We look forward to working with you soon Mr. Gunn."

With that the woman and her partner drifted off to speak with another group of guests. I squeezed a button on sleeve between two fingers, activating my mic. "I guess you made it in. Now what?"

"Well, that depends on if you need some time alone with the pretty redhead. I am sure Miranda and I can find some young stud to keep us amused."

Beside me Miranda had been taking a sip of champagne and nearly choked on it. She spluttered for a second while Kasumi giggled delightedly in my ear. I sighed. "No, thank you for the offer but it's time we got down to business. What first?"

We cased the vault first, Miranda keeping watch while Kasumi pointed out the specific security measures we would have to bypass. After that it was a difficult but straightforward job of systematically defeating the countermeasures. Having a master thief along turned what probably should have been a nerve wracking experience into something more akin to an obscure scavenger hunt. Twice Miranda had to run interference for me, first while breaking into the security room, and second while breaking into Hock's private quarters. Both times she acted swiftly and without protest. We were starting to develop a working relationship, and I anticipated several pleasant ways the relationship could eventually go. Sooner than I would have expected we had collected everything we needed to get into the vault. I was actually a little disappointed in the process. I'd been harboring the hope that this vault job would be little more exciting, requiring precise timing and maneuvering through motion activated security systems by use of advanced stealth technology. Guess you can't have everything you want.

The doors to the outer vault slide open and I turned to Miranda. "Stay up here Miranda. Keep an eye on Hock and comm if it looks like we might have missed some kind of alarm."

I expected her to fight me on at least this, but instead she just nodded. "I will keep things in hand up here Shepard. Remember the plan though, in and out, no need to rouse that army of guards."

I gave her my best innocent grin and winked at her. "Worried about me Ms. Lawson?"

"Yes, it's my job to worry. I spent two years of my life putting you back together Shepard, don't let some petty criminal undo my hard work." That last part was delivered with the barest hint of a smile, and without another word she closed the door in my face.

There was definitely something going on with that woman. I grinned and turned to face the statue of Saren. Now wasn't the time to try dissecting Miranda's new attitude towards me, that would have to wait until after I was done robbing the private vault of an interstellar arms dealer. Easy things first I guess.

* * *

The outer door of Hock's vault slid shut and Miranda let out a sigh. Once again she was stuck on over watch. Shepard obviously still didn't trust her completely. Oh, he was making an effort to show otherwise certainly, bringing her along on this mission, trying to engage in playful banter, and even a bit of light flirting, but she didn't buy it. Ok, the flirting maybe. She had noticed the where his eyes had lingered as he helped her out of the air car. At least the dress had had the desired effect. It had been too long since she had gotten the opportunity to wear something along those lines and so when Shepard had tapped her for backup on this mission her choices had been limited. It was good to know that she had picked correctly.

But flirtation or no, he still was inside the vault and she wasn't. For a brief moment she wondered if he had ditched her in order to seduce Kasumi. She'd seen the way the commander had held the thief at the entrance and would not be at all surprised if he intended on fucking her. No, she wouldn't be surprised, but she would be irritated. They had enough things to worry about without Shepard trying to stick his dick in every pretty woman they brought aboard the Normandy. With another resigned sigh she returned to the party. Somebody on this bloody mission had to be professional.

For the next ten minutes Miranda wandered the floor, making excuses for Shepard's absence and generally gathering information. There were several highly influential people here and she made special note of names she could pass along to The Illusive Man, might as well do something useful with her time. She was in the middle of a conversation with the CEO of a company that was making interesting breakthroughs in VI technology when she noticed the two security goons angling her way. They were trying to be subtle about it, probably not wanting to spook her or the other guests.

Well, she thought to herself, I guess I was right about the direction this mission would take.

Her conversation partner had not yet noticed the men, which was unsurprising, it was hard to notice anything when you kept staring at breasts like you had never seen them before. Miranda had maybe ten seconds before the men were in position to grab her. She used the first two to run down her list of potential options. She could attempt to draw the confrontation out, drag the old pervert talking to her away under the pretense of sex and see if the goons followed. Nah, that would just add another variable to confrontation. She could disable them both now, knock the CEO into them and use the distraction to disengage and blend into the crowd. Maybe, but security would almost certainly be able to track her and the crowd wasn't dense enough anyway. She settled on waiting, neither of the goons had drawn their weapons yet and they were obviously trying to be subtle, might as well see how it played out. She used the remaining eight seconds to subtly tap the concealed buttons on her hips. Invisible seams split along the sides of her legs, her floor length dress now only held together a few threads. She had a pistol concealed on her inner thigh, but she left it there for now.

The goons reached her a moment later and took up flanking positions to either side of her. "Ms. Walker, if you would come with us please."

At least they were being polite about it. "May I ask why?"

"Mr. Hock would like a private word."

Well that clenched it. Hock was unlikely to use his guards to get her if he just wanted to compliment her on her dress. She again considered fleeing but it still wasn't the right moment.

"Of course. Mr. Richards if you will excuse me, I will make sure that one of our people contacts you in the next few days."

The old man spluttered for a moment or two as one of the guards put a hand on her shoulder, steering her towards the security room. The other goon fell into position a few steps behind her, inside his own range, but outside of the range of a woman in a tight dress. She allowed them to guide her doing her best to appear frightened and confused. By the time they reached the door to the security booth both men had lost most of their wary edge. The man with a hand on her shoulder had loosened his grip and the man behind her had stopped a little too close to her. As her guide entered the code to the door she struck.

She reached across herself and wrapped her fingers over the hand on her shoulder, trapping some of the fabric of her dress while she was at it. With a rolling motion she pivoted the man's wrist, still locked in her dress, straightening the guard's arm. She brought her other arm over his and drove her elbow own. The man was good enough to twist away from the break, so she used her strike as a fulcrum instead, bending his arm around her and pinning it against his back. With a powerful twist of her hips and torso she slammed him face first into the armored door. Combat armor was an amazing thing, able to blunt the impact of even large caliber rounds, but it was completely useless if it wasn't there. The man's un-helmeted head rebounded from the metal door, shattered nose spraying blood. At the same time she lashed out with a back kick, taking the man behind her in square in the knee. His armor blunted the impact, but legs still weren't meant to bend that way and there was a wet crunch as the joint gave out. He pitched to the side letting out a scream of agony while he did.

She released her arm lock, pulling the man's assault rifle off his back as her arms retreated. The doors in front of her slid open and she dropped into a crouch spraying fire into the room. There were four men in, none with their shields active and her rounds tore into them. Their armor offered some protection until she switched to headshots. Not one even made it out of their seats. The rifle clicked empty and she dropped it, drawing her concealed pistol as she stalked into the room. A sound behind her made her spin. The man whose leg she'd broken was struggling to draw his pistol. Tough sonofabitch. She shot him through the eye, and put a round into the man with the broken nose as well. No point in being sloppy.

The security room was sound proofed as was the antechamber, and she doubted anybody at the party had heard the fight, but that was no reason to hang around. Quickly she crossed to computers, pulling up her Omni-tool. A wave of her hand set the best intrusion programs Cerberus had loose on Donovan Hock's security system. A flashing red status bar popped up almost instantly. Hock's security was surprisingly good, and her omni-tool predicted a thirty eight percent chance of failure. That was too high. She switched her attention to the communications system. They broke within moments and she tapped her earbud to call the Normandy.

"EDI, I need you to intrude into Hock's system and wipe all surveillance footage of the team."

The cool voice of the ship's AI came out of the rooms speakers. "Of course operator Lawson. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

An idea hit her. "Yes. Copy all records of Hock's transactions. Flag all references to Lawson Industries or Henry Lawson with my personal security code and send them to my terminal. And while you are in there, drain any credits you can into the Lazarus project accounts." Cerberus had spent a lot of money setting this operation up, might as well make some of it back.

"Oh, and find me Shepard." EDI acknowledged the orders, and a screen opened in the center of the computer's display. On it Shepard and Kasumi were in the middle of a pitched battle with a group of Hock's security men. A map on the side of the image showed where they were in the vast underground complex. There was a landing pad near their position and Miranda highlighted it.

"EDI, tell Joker to bring the shuttle in here."

"Mr. Moreau is already in route to that position."

Well that was something. Joker had the extraction team, Jacob and Zaeed, in the shuttle with him. Once they put down they would be able to fight their way to Shepard. All she had to do now was calmly walk out the front door, take the air car and leave. Nice and easy.

A new window popped up on the screen and started flashing. On it eight guards were moving quickly down a hallway, their position also blinking on the map. "Operator Lawson, there is a squad of guards moving on Shepard's flank. At their current rate they will trap him and Ms. Kasumi between themselves and a YMIR mech that is being prepared just before the landing pad. I cannot raise the commander due to the localized jamming."

Miranda looked over the map. There was a lift that led from the security room and would deposit her close enough to intercept the guards. With yet another resigned sigh she checked that her pistol had a full charge. So much for the easy way.

"I am on it EDI. Finish downloading that information then slag the whole system."

With a feeling like she would probably always been cleaning up after Shepard, Miranda stepped into the lift.

* * *

Getting Keiji's greybox off planet had been more difficult than I had expected. Gingerly I reached down and felt my right side where I had landed after a rocket from Hock's fucking gunship had sent me flying. The spot was still sore and I was half convinced it cracked a rib or two. Which was why we were holding the debriefing for the mission in the med-bay. Chakwas clucked disapprovingly and pushed my hand away. She fussed over the impact spot and I looked at Miranda who was standing off to the side, arms crossed and face disapproving.

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, fine, you were right Miranda."

"At least you can admit it." She said sternly. " Maybe next time don't abandon a third of your team?"

I shot her a boyish grin. "But who would have handled the security records?"

She didn't even so much as smile. "Perhaps that should have been included in the original plan then."

"The original plan didn't involve us getting spotted at all." I reminded her.

"And that worked out so well now didn't it?" She fired back.

Well this was going nowhere. What was her problem anyway? Was she upset that I hadn't kept her with me the whole time? That couldn't possibly be it. She had been essential for the plan working where she had been. I had known there was a possibility of something happening and I had left her behind as an insurance policy. I had been right to do it too as it turned out. Miranda had enough tactical training to know that, so what was with the attitude? I changed the topic, not willing to dig deeper into whatever hole I was in right now.

"How would we go about getting one of those gunships?" Having one of those would give me some interesting tactical options in future operations.

She was apparently getting better at anticipating my changes of topic because she didn't miss a beat. "I put some feelers out after Omega. Cerberus has several, but all of them are on active assignment right now. We could look into buying one, but even with Cerberus contacts it would cost us about 16 million credits."

I whistled, that was a fair chunk of change, so probably not going to straight up buy one. Beside me Chakwas straightened from examining my side.

"Shepard, take your shirt off. I need to get a closer look at this."

I shrugged out of the shirt, wincing a bit in the process. Chakwas began running her hands over my sides and abs, pressing, and taking note of my cringes. I tried to ignore the occasional stabs of pain and looked back at Miranda. Was it my imagination or was she blushing a little? No. It had to be some kind of trick of the light. I picked up the thread of our conversation.

"Well, even with looting Hock, I don't think we have the budget for it. Quick thinking on that by the way, we will have to start making that a regular part of mission when we can. Work with EDI to compile a list of mercenary groups who are known to use gunships, maybe we can steal one."

"We aren't thieves Shepard." She looked more amused than upset though. Oh, she was still glaring at me, but it had lost its aggressive edge.

"We aren't exactly heroes either. We will avoid taking the ship from someone who doesn't deserve it. Besides, I am not going to drop everything just to run out and steal one. I just like to have some options open. If we put down on a planet where criminals are known to operate a gunship, well, maybe we will do the local law enforcement a favor and take care of it."

"Fine, as you order Commander, I will put together that list. Is there anything else?"

I grinned again and sketched a salute. "Thank you XO. And yes, how is Kasumi settling in?"

Miranda glared for another moment then gave up. "Fine. She has claimed the port side crew lounge as her bunk. Several of the crew have complained, but unless you give orders to the contrary I am allowing it. Squad members take priority over general crew."

From down by my side Chakwas muttered. "Don't let them hear you say that."

I grinned at her comment, making Miranda scowl. "If you would rather change those…"

I waved my free hand. "No, no, she is fine there. I will increase shore leave whenever possible, that should keep the crew happy. Is there any additional business?"

She made a show of checking her data pad. "Nothing that can't wait until later."

"Thank you Miranda, and thank you for your assistance today. You performed brilliantly." I took a chance. "And you looked beautiful in that dress."

She was silent for several seconds before replying. "Thank you Commander, you cleaned up pretty well yourself."

With that she turned on her heel and withdrew from the med-bay. Once the doors had closed Dr. Chakwas gave me a disapproving look. I put on an innocent expression. "What?"

She just shook her head. "You are mostly fine Shepard. You have an impressive bruise but your armor took the majority of the impact. There is some bruising around your ribs, but I have treated it and you should be combat ready by tomorrow afternoon. Just try to avoid taking unnecessary fire."

I laughed. "Like I don't normally try to do that."

She didn't say anything, instead just cocking an eyebrow and I laughed again. "Alright doc, I will do what I can. I have a present for you as a way of a thank you."

She started to sterilize her tools, looking at me over her shoulder. "Oh?"

I walked over to where I had tossed my shirt. Next to it was a bag and I pulled out bottle of blue liquor. Turning I presented it to Chakwas. Her eyes widened and she laughed delightedly. "Oh Shepard, you remembered!"

I slipped my shirt back on as she hurried over to a cabinet and withdrew two glasses, placing them on her desk. "Shall we share it?"

I laughed. "I thought you had said you were saving the bottle for a special occasion, doctor."

"No need for ceremony between friends, call me Karin. I never got to drink the last bottle because I kept saving it. I am not making the same mistake with this one." She gave me wry look. "Unless you can tell me that this Normandy has a safer mission than the last one?"

I made a show of considering the question for a moment then took a seat across from her. "Better make mine a double."

* * *

An hour, and several glasses later Karin and I were sitting reminiscing over the old days.

"And then Joker tells me he prefers, wassit? Silver! He prefers silver to gold for his medal for pulling my ass out of the fire." My drink spilled a little as I waved the hand holding it around.

Karin had a beautiful laugh. "I think he mentioned that to me at one point."

We lapsed into a relaxed silence while she took a sip and I refilled my glass. The bottle was more than two thirds empty at this point. It was really good brandy. I offered the bottle to Karin and she shook her head. Then apropos of nothing, aproptopo? aPROpo? Out of nowhere she gave me a very serious look.

"Shepard may I ask you a question?"

I smiled slyly. "You just did Karin." Damn I was witty.

She rolled her eyes. "How do you do it?"

Ah, this question. I knew this one. "I do it because nobody else is doing it. I risk myself and my team because - "

She waved her hand and interrupted me. "No, not that, how do you make all of the women you serve with want you?"

What?

It took me a second to process her question and my first response was a confused. "What?"

"Ashley, Dr. T'Soni, Jack, Ms. Lawson, Ms. Chambers. Why is it that every woman who spends time with you wants to get in your pants?"

Wait, was going on here? My mouth spoke without checking in with my brain. "Not every woman Karin."

She put down her drink. Then she started to unbutton her freaking top. "Every woman, Shepard."

My eyes grew wide, and I tried to make sense of what I was seeing as she finished removing the lab coat. For a moment all I could do was stare. Karin it turned out had a surprisingly fit body for a woman her age, and a really cute lacy bra. I was speechless. I had always respected her, so why hadn't I ever thought of her in this way? I trusted her, she was smart, obviously loyal, and yet this possibility had never crossed my mind. As I sat there trying to make sense of what was happening she slid out of her seat and onto the floor at my feet. Her hands found the button of my pants and undid them with a few deft motions. She pulled them down a little and started to play her hand across my cock through my boxers.

"I have been curious about this for a while Shepard." She teased as she tugged my boxers down, freeing my dick. Grinning she planted a kiss on the head, sending a wave of session running out from the point of contact.

That finally jump started at least part of me. My dick began to harden and I felt my inhibitions starting to melt away. She really was quite lovely, and unlike Jack I didn't really have to worry about her loyalty. Fuck it. If Karin wanted this, who was I to say no? I reached out and stroked her cheek.

"Why don't you let me show you why, Karin." It wasn't the smoothest thing I could have said, but I was drunk enough that I didn't really care.

Apparently she didn't either. Her eyes lit up and she kissed my head again, this time giving it a little tongue. Karin was incredibly talented and her hands began to expertly work the shaft and balls. She maintained eye contact with me as she worked, occasionally lightly kissing my dick. I slumped back in my chair, pleasure robbing me of the desire to do anything else. Under her fantastic ministrations my dick became almost painfully erect. The pressure needed a release, and I got an idea. The next time she kissed the tip I put a hand on the back of her head and pressed myself into her mouth.

"Open wide and say 'Ah' doc."

She groaned in pleasure. The sound felt amazing on my dick, and if I had thought she was talented with her hands, she was fucking brilliant with her mouth. Her tongue ran up and down my shaft in a complex pattern, and her lips moved in perfect rhythm with her hand on my balls. I ran my hand down from her head and over the clasp of her bra.

"Let me help with your breast exam." I chuckled. My fingers fumbled with the fasteners, the fucking things were made explicitly to make me look like an idiot I swear. Karin's free hand snaked up, brushed mine out of the way, and unhooked the damnable things. Without disrupting her rhythm at all she shrugged out of the lacy bra. Reaching past her head I cupped her breasts. This was fantastic and I was rapidly approaching my first orgasm. She must have felt it too because she started focusing her mouth on my head, her hand furiously worked my shaft. It built and built and built until I couldn't hold it anymore.

"Take this and call me in the morning!" I exclaimed, getting ready to shoot off in her mouth. Karin pulled back at the last second, and I came all over her neck and breasts, and my hands. I wiped my hands off on my pants as she pushed herself off of me. A few steps brought her to one of the examination tables and she hopped up onto it, kicking out of her pants as she did. Her plain white panties didn't match the fancy bra, which I found sort of disappointing. I wasn't disappointed for long though as she pushed the fabric aside, giving me a look at the treasure beneath.

With a crooked finger she beckoned me over. "Your turn commander."

I was happy to oblige. I started with kisses, worshiping the skin around pussy before I dived in. Karin writhed under my expert touch. After a few seconds of teasing I really got down to business. My tongue running up and down her slit, occasionally flicking against her clit or into her pussy proper. She was already wet and tasted fucking amazing. I was already getting hard again.

With a final wet kiss on her clit I straightened, pulling her panties off as I did. Before me Dr. Karin Chakwas lay completely naked, wet, and desperate for my cock. It might not have been something I had ever imagined, but I was more than happy it was happening. The table was just the perfect height for this, her pussy lips all but kissing the head of my cock.

"Just relax while I insert the needle." Damn, I was coming up with fucking awesome lines right now. I eased myself inside. She welcomed me in, the soft wet deliciousness of her pussy gripping me and urging me onwards. In one slow stroke she took my entire dick, letting out a moan of pleasure when I was completely inside her. Fuck she felt incredible. I started to pump my hips and her moans became delighted gasps.

"Faster." She exclaimed between gasps. I went faster.

"Harder." She moaned. I threw one of her legs over my shoulder and pulled her hips right up to the edge of the table. My cock slammed into her, over and over, driving us both wild. My other hand groped hungrily at her breasts and one of her hands worked furiously between her legs rubbing her clit. She just felt so fucking good, her pussy soft and wet and just what I needed. I completely forgot about my ribs, and about what ever weirdness was going on between Miranda and me. All I thought about was giving Karin exactly what she had asked for.

My orgasm almost caught me by surprise, the pleasure and sensation building in a sudden wave. My grunts and moans got faster and I saw the delight on her face as she realized I was about to cum. She bucked her hips and her leg on my shoulder pulled me even tighter. It was too much and the wave crashed. I thrust in fully as I came, her amazing pussy wrapped tight around my shuddering cock.

The euphoria and god like energy I had felt as I fucked fled in that orgasm, and I had to put a hand out to steady myself. Beneath me Karin moaned and rolled her hips again, trying in vain to awaken my cock. I slid out of her and stumbled away from the table, catching myself on the desk and slumping back against the window. I needed a second to catch my breath and then go for round three. Karin propped herself up on her elbows staring sultrily at me, her legs spread and pussy dripping with my cum. Still looking at me she slid one hand back between her legs and started to finger herself. I watched, fascinated as the Normandy's doctor brought herself to orgasm in front of me. She never broke eye contact with me. It was so fucking intensely sexy, and yet my dick stayed limp. Maybe if I tasted her again it would work.

I shoved off the window my weakened legs causing me to stumble a bit, and I fell against the desk, bashing my right side into the metal. Pain broke through the last remnants of my euphoria and my vision began to waver. I put a hand to my head, trying to stabilize things. It didn't help much, and the pain continued to make the world spin until Karin injected something into my shoulder. The painkiller worked well enough that I was able to see straight again. Karin was standing in front of me holding an injector and clutching her lab coat closed.

"Let's get you back to your room Commander, your ribs need rest."

Hmm, my room had my bed, which would be a lot more comfortable than the table, besides, I was feeling sleepy. I threw an arm around her waist and she led me out of the med bay. I missed my footing when I thought I caught a hint of movement out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked again it was gone. Together Karin and I made our way to the elevator. As we waited for it, I tried to use the hand on her waist to play with her a little more but it was a bad angle.

"Do you make house calls doctor?" I sneered as the elevator doors slid open.

Karin gave me a beautiful smile. "Not this time Shepard. Go sleep, doctor's orders."

I leaned in for a kiss and she turned, taking it on the cheek. "We will have to do this again soon Karin."

"Uh huh. Good night Shepard." She shoved me lightly, and I slumped against the back wall of the elevator. I felt really good, my side had stopped hurting, I had just had excellent sex, and these walls were really comfortable. Dimly I realized Karin must have included some kind of sedative with the painkillers. If the wall felt this good, my bed would feel amazing. I only hoped I could make it that far.


	8. Chapter 7

Haestrom's fucking sun was the last fucking thing I needed while I was fucking hung over. In addition to being stupidly bright and hot, the light somehow drained my fucking shields when I stood directly in it. The sun, the fucking sun, drained my god damn shields. EDI had tried to explain it in some way, but my take away had been that this planet was shit and the faster I could get off of it, the better.

I was on this shit planet because apparently while I was busy getting my ribs bruised by gunships – still wanted one of those – Garrus had been talking to Tali. She was somewhere on this planet and had agreed to join the crew if Garrus and I helped her finish her mission here. He'd told me this before I went to check in with Chakwas about my ribs and I'd had Joker set course as soon as possible. Which was why, unfortunately, I was still hung over when we got here.

My memories of the night before were hazy, but I remembered Karin and I's night together clearly enough. I had gone to speak with her before deploying to the surface, partially to get her help with the hangover, and partially to see about setting up a follow up encounter. I had failed on both counts. The sedative she had used on me apparently interacted badly with the hangover cures she had on hand so that was a bust. As for a follow up evening; Karin had been polite, but had explained that it was probably better if we just remained platonic friends. That had hurt more than the raging headache. I had never had somebody turn down a second night, not after I had slept with them anyway. Apparently her curiosity had been settled that night and she felt like our relationship would be better maintained as friends. Fuck, how drunk had I been? Had I been bad? It seemed unlikely. That hadn't happened since I was a teenager. But then what else could it be? Maybe I had been too good? That might have been it. Karin was fit for her age, but it was entirely possible that I had been a bit too aggressive for her. Maybe she didn't feel like she could keep up and didn't want to disappoint both of us. Yeah, that made sense. If she didn't feel up to it, I could respect that. The realization that it probably wasn't me was comforting, but did nothing to deal with the fucking headache, or the too bright sun that still drained my fucking shields.

Oh, and the Geth weren't helping either.

They'd attacked soon after we had landed. Normally I would have been delighted to be fighting the flashlight faced fuckers again, but the throbbing in my forehead was damping the experience somewhat. I squinted to block out the hateful glare of the sun and loosed a burst at a hunter who was charging me, its cloak only just coming up. I missed and it got its cloak all the way up.

"Fucking varren shit planet, fucking piece of shit rifle, fucking cloaking son of a vorcha whore."

I fired, and missed, again. From over my shoulder a larger weapon cracked and the hunter reappeared, a chunk missing from its shoulder.

"Shepard, you feeling ok?" Garrus's voice was another buzzing noise that drove spikes of pain into my head. It felt like it was getting a little bit better, probably my adrenaline kicking in, but still fucking sucked. The shot had staggered the hunter but it kept coming.

"It's too fucking bright." I growled as I moved forward to meet the charging Geth. I sidestepped its shotgun blast, taking only a grazing impact on my shields, and lashed out grabbing its wrist. I spun, combining its momentum with my own to smash it against a massive block of stone. That disoriented it for a second and I drove my rifle against its side and held down the trigger. I didn't miss.

"You know," Garrus said as the hunter slumped to the ground, "you could just polarize your visor."

… Fuck … A half a moment's effort cut the sunlight, and pain, down to a tolerable level.

"Not a fucking word." I snarled at Garrus as he trotted over. The smug fucker just grinned at me.

Things got a lot easier after that. Garrus, Grunt and I blew through Geth as we followed Tali's team. We found bodies, and records, but no Tali. As we fought my frustration and pain started to bleed away. It was sort of like old times, if Grunt had been Wrex this could have been any of half a dozen battlefields from the hunt for Saren. It felt good to be fighting a known enemy again. I didn't mind the fight against the collectors, but they were still largely an unknown. These robotic shits were familiar, and my last fight with them had been some of the most defining moments of my life. For a while I got to relive my past, and it was a surprisingly good way to work through my hangover.

* * *

Miranda stood in the commander's spot in the Normandy's CIC tracking Shepard progress on the holographic display. The swirling galaxy map that normally occupied the center projector had been replaced by a view of the Quarian ruins, with dots marking the locations of the commander and his team. After a rough start they were doing well now, moving quickly through the ruins towards a large observatory near the center. That early difficulty had worried her. She'd noticed something off about Shepard before he departed, and that feeling had only increased as she had gone over the initial combat telemetry. Everything seemed fine now, and his combat stats were only getting better as the mission progressed.

Halfway around the map Jack leaned against a console. Her posture was casual, bored even, but Miranda could see the way her eyes followed the commander's marker as he moved. She had started to do that more, emerging from her subdeck lair anytime the commander didn't take her on a mission to track his progress. What is possible that the hard ass was developing a soft spot for their leader? She had been spending a lot of time with the commander recently, alone, in his room. Now that she thought about it, Jack probably had something to do with Shepard's odd behavior this morning. She considered again the value of replacing the bugs in the commander's room. The Illusive Man would expect her to she knew, but she was in no rush to collect more video of them fucking. She was able to admit to herself that part of the reason was that she had started to enjoy watching those videos more than she should, and that was unacceptable. Additionally distressing was that Miranda had caught herself starting checking Jack out as something besides a potential threat.

She dragged her eyes off the other woman and returned them to display. This was hardly the time for that train of thought. Her job was to make sure that the Collectors were stopped and the commander kept alive, which right now meant making sure he made it to Tali'Zorah. That was another bloody thing that could backfire horribly. The Illusive Man had sent her the Quarian's dossier before sending it to Shepard and Miranda had suggested against recruiting her. The commander was already spending too much time with Vakarian, the last thing she needed was another of his old allies onboard, especially a curvy female one with a hero complex. Tali'Zorah wasn't the threat T'Soni or Williams would be, but she would be another obstacle for Miranda to overcome in inserting herself into Shepard's circle. It had been a good thing that the Illusive Man had managed to arrange things so Williams would be suspicious of the commander, otherwise she doubted the marine would have turned down his offer to rejoin the crew. T'Soni was safely on Illium, and Miranda had no intention of letting that one join the ship's crew, at the very least not until she had Shepard under her influence. This mission was too important to let anything stand in the way.

Despite her efforts though, here they were. Either the Illusive Man had ignored her suggestion, or Tali'Zorah had contacted Shepard directly. She gritted her teeth. Fine, she would just have to work extra hard. Nothing new there. Miranda had a job to do, and she was not going to let some tatted up biotic, curvy Quarian, or anybody else stop her. What she needed was a plan.

She ran her eyes over the tactical map again. Everything seemed to be going well. Meaning it was the commander's usual storm of gunfire, explosions and mayhem. Shepard really was an impressive soldier. He had no biotic talent, was only moderately competent at basic engineering, and yet very few things ever slowed him down. He could handle himself. She pulled her attention inward, letting her eyes remain on hologram. This was a skill she had learned years ago, focusing the majority of her considerable intellect on a mental problem while maintaining enough awareness to keep track of simple tasks. Ok, plan.

She ran over her list she had compiled of the commander's weaknesses. She had found two that she was pretty sure she could exploit. The problem was that she wasn't sure how much she wanted to turn those dials. Easiest, and most emotionally the most problematic, was his proclivity towards sex. Miranda had no doubt at all that she could have the commander any time she wanted. Jack was nothing compared to her, and Tali'Zorah would probably die if she and Shepard did anything. Seduction was certainly a weapon Miranda had trained in and sharpened, but it could also cut her. She did not like the way watching Shepard sleep with Jack affected her. He got under her skin in a way that she wasn't sure she understood, and until she did, that would have to be a last resort.

The other option was Shepard's hero complex. He always had to be the white knight, riding in to save the day. She thought back to her conversation with the Illusive Man when he had first assigned her to Shepard. The memories were clear and sharp, another "gift" from her father, the bastard. But her plan from then could still work. What she needed was something that Shepard could help her with, something that would let him feel like a hero. There were several Cerberus matters the Illusive Man had asked her to deal with, possibly one of those? She ran through each of them and discarded them. They were too emotionless. Maybe ask for help in a hit on her Father? He had just helped Garrus kill somebody after all, and god knew she wanted that bastard dead. The Illusive Man had denied her previous requests for a hit because he'd feared it would draw attention to Cerberus from the Alliance. But maybe if she explained the idea to him. That might bare thinking on.

Then again, it might come off too cold blooded. Miranda knew most of the crew already referred to her as the Ice Queen, that plan would go a long way towards proving them right. Fuck. If only she had a situation like Jacob with his father. That was an easy to solve thing that would almost certainly draw Jacob and the commander closer together. She didn't have any ghosts in her past, well, not ones that she could use like that anyway. Her ghosts were either dead, or Oriana, and that simply wasn't an option. No, she would have to figure out something else.

On the holographic display something massive exploded, and she snapped her attention back to the mission, this could wait until Shepard was safely back on board.

* * *

With an impressive blast the demo charges blew a hole in the collapsed pillar that had been blocking our progress. We got up and moved through the doors behind it and into a charnel house. This had clearly been the Quarian base camp, it had beds, equipment lockers, tables and tons of survey equipment scattered around. It also had bodies. Quarian bodies lay in still wet blood that pooled around the bodies of their Geth attackers. It was apparently a recent fight and as we entered a still partially functional Geth trooper crawled towards us. I raised my pistol to shoot it but Grunt beat me to it. With a bellow he kicked the thing into the air. He caught it and slammed it back into the ground. Then he started to stomp on it.

He was certainly through. "Grunt, it's dead. Stand down."

The Krogan glared at me. His eyes burned with an even deeper level of rage and I started to wonder if I was going to need to shoot him to get his attention. After a tense moment or three he grunted, pulled his foot out of the mess that remained of the Geth torso and kicked it aside.

"Weak." He grumbled and began to pick through the room.

I shared a look with Garrus, unsurprised to see him easing his finger out of his rifle's trigger guard. Grunt had been aggressive recently. Well, more aggressive, and if it continued it was going to become a problem. It was almost to the point where I couldn't leave him on the Normandy out of concern he would tear something apart. I had to look into this, but not right now.

I ran my eyes across the room again, heart sinking. If Tali was in here… no, that marine I'd spoken to earlier said he'd doubled back here after stashing her somewhere safe. "Fan out and search the room. See if you can find this Kal'Reeger we were talking with."

A quick scan of the room turned up corpses, a couple of useful pieces of tech, some credits, and no survivors. Thankfully none of the bodies were Tali, but we did find her journal.

"Our ancestors walked these halls with uncovered heads. The sun must have been normal back then." She sounded wistful. "So much space. Walls of stone… It's amazing. I wish my friends could see it. I wish Garrus were here, or Shepard."

It was good to hear her voice again. I replayed what she had said in my mind. She missed me enough that she wanted to share this homecoming with me, well, me and Garrus. I looked over at the turian, not sure what I was expecting to see, and found him staring across the room. My gaze followed him and settled on an image of Tali floating above a comm station. We both hurried over to it. We must have tripped some kind of proximity trigger because as we got to it the image started to move.

"Tali'Zorah to base camp. Come in base camp." She sounded nervous, not quite frightened but definitely stressed. I tapped the acceptance button.

"Tali, it's Shepard."

With their concealing face masks, Quarians were a hard people to hold a conversation with, as you had to watch for body language to tell you what they were thinking. Tali's shoulders rocked back a little as though she was surprised.

"Shepard? Not that I am complaining but I didn't expect you to get here so quickly, is Garrus with you?"

He leaned over my shoulder so the camera could catch him too. "I am here Tali, we even brought a Krogan."

Some of the tension drained out of her voice and posture. "Keelah! Would you mind blowing a hole through the Geth and getting me out of here then?"

"That's why we are here Tali. We got the firepower, but we are light on intelligence, what can you tell me?"

In terse sentences she outlined her mission and position. She told us about the large number of Geth blocking her in, and that there should be a team of Quarian marines still holding the door to her bunker. If we could push up to her, we would likely catch the Geth between us.

"That's about everything Shepard. Anything else? Or can it wait until we aren't being shot at?"

I smiled. "That's everything. It looks like somebody sealed the door against the Geth, can you get it open on your end?

"Let me see… Yes, I can do it." She fiddled with something outside the camera's view for a second. "Here. Should be unlocked now. Be careful Shepard. And please, do what you can do keep Reegar alive."

Her image dissolved and I turned to the door. "Ok team, shifting order. Grunt, you are on point. Garrus, watch our flank."

Grunt grinned and stacked up on the door, Garrus however stopped to hand me a Geth rifle. "I found it on a work bench, it's been modified to take thermal clips. One of the marines must have been tampering with it."

That made me smile. This style of rifle had been irritating me all day, would be nice to return the favor. I slipped my own rifle onto the magnetic slot at the small of my back where a shotgun usually went. The Geth pulse rifle was lighter than I had expected it to be, but I knew from personal experience that it was ridiculously accurate for its rate of fire. I thanked Garrus then took my position behind Grunt and we set out to save Tali.

We barely made it fifty meters before being attacked by a flotilla of drones supported by a Prime. I ducked behind some cover and grinned, a perfect opportunity to test the new rifle. I tapped a command into my omni tool, its systems linking with the rifle's and blue holographic displays springing into existence around the weapon. I leaned around the edge of my cover, sighted on one of the drones, and let loose. The Geth weapon was almost as accurate as a Mattock, and I hammered the fucking flying toaster. Disruptor rounds tore it's shields to shreds and dropped it. Garrus's rifle took my targets wingmate and the others pulled back and cloaked.

I barked orders to my team. "Grunt, keep the Prime occupied. Garrus, focus the drones before they flank us."

Grunt bellowed and thundered forward, his Avenger spitting rounds towards the massive Geth control platform. I added my own fire to his, both of us chipping away at it's shields. Behind us, Garrus's Viper smashed two drones that exposed themselves by firing on the charging Krogan. The Prime didn't miss a beat, synthetic brain processing the situation faster than any organic being could. It's size made its moves seem sluggish, but it brought its massive gun to bare on Grunt. Rounds began to hammer against his shields but he ignored them. His Avenger ran empty and he tossed it aside, leaping at the Prime barehanded. I don't care how big a badass killing machine you are, a couple hundred kilos of armored Krogan made a pretty damn effective battering ram. Grunt's shoulder caught the Prime in the chest and knocked it on its synthetic ass.

It looked like he had that in hand, so I shifted my own fire to the drones. It was almost like a game, any time one of them dropped it shields to shoot, Garrus or I blew it away. Grunt climbed on top of the Prime and started to rain blows down on it. The Prime countered with a vicious upper cut to Grunts chest that lifted him a bit, but did nothing to slow him down. It dropped its rifle and swung again, this time catching him across the face. The insane Krogan yelled in its flashlight face then grabbed it head and did his very best to rip the fucking thing off. Alloys squealed and stretched but held; until a shot from Garrus blew a hole in the neck. With a final shriek of protesting metals, Grunt ripped the head free. He held it aloft and roared his success at the sky. A drone flickered into view above him and I saw his shield collapse under its fire. I swung my rifle around to take it but instead watched in amazement as Grunt hurled the Prime's head at the drone. The impact knocked the thing a few meters back through the air, and as it wobbled trying to catch its balance, Garrus and I both lit it up.

Pieces of metal rained to the floor as I trotted up to Grunt, stooping to pick up his rifle along the way. His armor was pitted, and a thin trail of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth where the Prime's punch had mashed his gums. When he smiled at me his teeth were stained red.

"Good fight Shepard!"

I shook my head, and handed him his rifle back. We continued forward, clearing out the last couple of drones along the way. The path led to a locked down room. Heavy security shutters covered the windows and the door was locked down. Garrus and Grunt started to look for a way to override the lockdown and I took a second to hack an old wall safe. Every little credit helped after all. From off to one side Grunt let out a triumphant, well, grunt, and I heard the sound of metal on metal as the shutters slid up.

The path to the observatory was fairly clear: out of this room, across the large expanse of open terrain in direct sunlight, and we were there. Only problem was, the entire fucking area was crawling with Geth. Movement in their rear lines drew my attention to a rapidly charging blue light. Fucking great, they had an Armature. There was sound more appropriate to a capital ship weapon then anything we should be seeing on the ground and that pretty blue light started to get a lot bigger.

"Get down!" I threw myself to the ground as the shot detonated against the back wall of the room. The impact shook dust and debris from the ceiling and the explosion completely stripped my shields. Not an Armature then, this was a goddamn Colossus. Fuck, fucking, fuckery. My head started to hurt again. I shoved myself to my feet and waved everybody towards the door. We did not want to be in this room when the next shot hit. Unfortunately I had not anticipated the ramp outside the door, and couldn't stop myself stumbling down it and slamming against the far wall. That mistake probably saved my life. The Colossus's next shot tore past the door and into the wall where I would have been standing. Again the world shook and I was pelted with chips of rock. My armor took the brunt of the impact, but a particularly large piece bounced off my helmet. The headache got worse, and my damaged ribs joined in on the party.

I recovered my balance and looked around. Garrus and Grunt were both pulling themselves back to their feet, and it didn't look like either had taken any serious injuries. That was good, Karin was already going to kill me for hurting my ribs again, no need to add others to that list. Beyond them was another ramp, and at the end of that, a lone Quarian took cover. As we neared him, he swung around the corner and loosed a rocket down range. We took advantage of his covering fire to get into cover around him. He must have seen us come out of the room above because he didn't start as I hunkered down next to him.

"Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. You Shepard?" So this was Reegar, he had a deeper voice than most of the Quarians I had met.

"Affirmative. Sit rep Marine." I used my command voice, I was in no mood to try to argue about who was in charge here.

Reegar was a true soldier, and he knew the tone. His back straightened minutely. "Tali'Zorah is in the observatory over there. Geth killed the rest of my team. You probably noticed the Colossus. It's locking down the center approach. The right is mostly clear but in direct sunlight. The left gives you some cover from the Colossus but your ass is hanging out for the Geth. That's how I got shot."

"How bad you hit?" Garrus asked.

"Combat seals clamped down to isolate the contamination, and I am swimming in antibiotics. Geth might get me, but I not letting some fucking infection kill me in the middle of a battle, that is just insulting."

I liked him. "How are they deployed?"

"Almost platoon strength. Mostly massed near the Colossus but with a picket force scattered around the different approaches."

"We should focus on the Colossus, Shepard. Knock its shields down and whittle away at it before we advance."

Reegar leaned around me to look at Garrus. "No good. It has a self-repair function, hurt it enough and the fucking thing just takes cover and fixes itself."

From beyond Garrus, Grunt growled his opinion. "Then we force it down then swamp it. Bet it can't heal faster than I can hurt it."

I could swear the Quarian was smiling under his mask. "That could work. I can't move much, but I could cover you from here, even got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. I call it Veera."

I put out a restraining hand. Normally I would take the marine up on his offer, better somebody else drawing fire than my team, but Tali had asked that I save this one. Besides, I had a better option. Jacob had run across an interesting weapon design and I had brought it with me for just such an occasion.

"I will handle the Colossus, the rest of you clean up the remaining Geth."

"What are you..? Oh." Garrus's eyes widened as I shrugged the M-920 Cain off the heavy weapon slot on my back. It had been a bitch to lug around, but I was pretty sure it was about to pay off.

"Grunt, go draw some fire would you." The crazy Krogan grinned happily and moved along the wall we were using for cover. When he reached the end he looked back at me. I started the gun charging and nodded to him. He exploded from cover, shotgun blearing and screaming a Krogan battle cry. He was certainly distracting, and Geth all across the field turned towards him. I popped up from my crouch, took careful aim, and fired.

Jacob had assured me that this weapon was not nuclear and therefore didn't violate any arms agreements, but looking at the resulting explosion, I was not really sure if that was true. An honest to god mushroom cloud rose from where the Colossus had been standing guard. As the smoke cleared I could see that I had blown away half of the fucking wall the Geth had been hiding behind, and nothing remained of the massive war machine except the molten remains of its rear two legs. Ok, I liked this gun, doubted I could find another place to use it, but sure as hell was going to keep it with me just in case. Cleaning up the remaining Geth was fairly easy after that. Reegar even got to use Veera.

A few minutes later I picked my way around the melted remains of the Colossus and approached the door to the observatory. Behind me I could hear Grunt putting shotgun rounds into any Geth corpse that looked like it might be salvageable, and from the sounds of it, a couple that didn't. The door was massive and set into a solid stone wall. Pieces of the wall were cracked and charred, either from the Colossus trying to get in, or me taking it out. I could see the point where there had once been a speaker attached to the door, but it was slag now. The angry red symbol of a locked door still hung in the center. If I had fought all this way just for a fucking door to lock me out…

The red turned green and a moment later the door slid down to reveal Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Quarian engineer extraordinaire. She held a shotgun loosely pointed in our direction, but she dropped it as soon as she confirmed who we were. The tension she had been holding drained from her and seemed to fall away with the weapon.

"Shepard! Keelah! Thank you! If you hadn't shown up I don't think I would have gotten out of this room alive."

We embraced. I always forgot how small she was, but my arms wrapped around her with ease and I felt like I needed to restrain myself in case I broke her. After a moment we separated and Tali hugged Garrus.

"Garrus, thank you for coming! You don't know how good it is to see you two."

Their hug lasted a bit longer than ours had, and his arm remained on hers as they pulled apart.

"Did you get everything you came for?" He asked.

She threw a glance back over her shoulder into the room. "I need to finish one more download, then I will be ready to go. This whole mission has been a disaster. I got the data, but my entire team was killed."

"Not your whole team ma'am." Reegar limped up to stand beside me.

"Reegar! You made it!" She almost rushed to hug him too, but stopped when she noticed his injury.

"Your old captain's as good as you said. Damn Colossus never stood a chance."

Grunt also lumbered up to join us, shotgun still smoking a bit. "Yeah. Was a good fight."

Tali eyed him, and did not move to hug him. "I don't know this one."

I smiled. "Grunt is a friend, Tali. Go get the rest of your data and lets get off this planet before any more of the Geth show up."

Grunt looked excited at the prospect but the rest of them sobered up a bit. Garrus offered to help Tali and they both headed back into the Observatory. Reegar turned to look at me and stuck out his hand.

"I'm not good with words; don't use them much myself, but Shepard, you are one hell of a soldier."

He had a strong grip despite his injury. "As are you, marine."

"You pulled my ass out of the fire, and saved the mission. If you ever need assistance from the Migrant Fleet Marines, I will be there."

I didn't know if I would ever need it, but I appreciated the offer, you could never have enough people who owed you favors. "I will let you know, Reegar. I hope you don't mind that I am taking Tali'Zorah with me."

Reegar gave me a very direct look. "The admiralty is wasting her. If she wants to go and you can use her, I won't stop you."

He shuffled his feet for a moment, obviously wanting to ask something but just as obviously not wanting to offend me. "Spit it out marine."

He pointed at the Cain. "Where did you get that? And who do I have to kill to get my own?"

I laughed, then reached back and pulled it off my back. "Take it, I have the supplies to make another."

He accepted the weapon reverently. "You sure?"

"I am. Just watch where you fire it, might take out a whole ship."

"It just might." He straightened and snapped an Alliance style salute. "Thank you Shepard."

I returned the salute. It felt like the right thing to do, despite the fact that neither of us was Alliance. Garrus and Tali choose that moment to return. They looked from me, to the comically oversized gun in Reegar's hands and back to me.

"Oh great, you gave him a bigger gun."

Reegar collapsed it, and attached it to his suit. "I going to call her Tali."

Tali threw up her hands. "Bosh'tet."

"You have the data?"

Garrus nodded. "Two copies. I figured the good doctor Solus would probably like to take a look at it too."

"Good idea." Why hadn't I thought of that? "Tali do you need to hand deliver it? or are you ready to go?"

She shrugged. "I can send it with Reegar. Once he is out of here I am all set."

Tali led the way to where the Quarian team had stowed their ship. It was depressingly large for its single occupant, but at least the Geth hadn't touched it. I ordered Grunt to help Reegar get on to the ship, despite the marine's protests that he could handle it himself. The Krogan gave me a confused look but did what he was told, actually picking up the limping Quarian. Once they were a few meters off I turned to Tali.

"Garrus explain the situation?" I asked quietly.

She nodded and kept her own volume low. "We are on a mission to stop the Collectors, who we think are working with the Reapers. We are being bankrolled by Cerberus, a terrorist organization that none of us trust and have probably booby-trapped the hell out of our ship. We have at least two highly capable agents from said organization onboard the ship with us, and to top it off, the Alliance is pretty sure you have joined them. That about sum it up?"

I grinned. "You missed the AI we have running the ship."

Her tone become dry. "Right. And the AI. Good. I was starting to get bored."

"What's next Shepard?" Garrus asked, crossing his arms.

From inside the ship there was a crash and a roar. "Tuchanka I think. Mordin has asked me to look into something with him, and we need to figure out what's wrong with Grunt."


	9. Chapter 8

"Thanks again for your help with Grunt."

The massive Krogan on my office comm screen grinned at me. "No problem Shepard! Thanks for smacking Weyrloc down."

I gave him an answering grin. "My pleasure Wrex. You going to be ok with the stragglers?"

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "Eh, if they try something I'll kick the crap out of them and we both know it." His manor got a bit shifty. "Shepard, did you recover anything, special, from their base?"

Ah, so he knew about the data then. We had gone after the rival clan to save Mordin's former assistant Maelon. Turns out he didn't needed saving after all and was actually working with Weyrloc to cure the genophage. Mordin had made the call in the end, killing Maelon for the brutality of his experiments, but on my order we saved the data from his research. It was distasteful but I wasn't about to waste such a valuable bit of data. Wrex hadn't known about the cure, but Weyrloc had been trying to oppose his unification of the Krogan people. He'd helped arrange my assault on their compound as a way of getting rid of a thorn in his side. The Urdnot scout we freed must have told him about the cure. I considered lying to him, but Wrex had trusted me before when he had a shot at a cure, he would trust me again right?

"I got some research data on the Genophage." His eyes grew bright and I hurriedly continued before he could interrupt. "It's not a cure Wrex, and I don't even know how useful it is but I have my science guy looking it over. It if turns into something I will let you know."

It obviously wasn't the answer he wanted. "Give it to me Shepard." He growled.

I stayed firm. "Wrex you told me yourself that the Krogan have no real science base. If you started to shop the cure around the STG would know about it in days."

He harrumphed, a fairly terrifying sound from a Krogan, and didn't look impressed. "STG doesn't scare me Shepard. Salarians are weak. They can do their worst."

I gave him a very level look. "They won't come after you Wrex, they will go after the data itself. Let me hold onto it for now. The guy I have working on it is one of the best, and he is loyal to me personally. I promise I will keep you in the loop."

He obviously wasn't happy, but he nodded a reluctant acceptance. "Fine Shepard, I'll give you time. Don't take too long though - every day means more Krogan deaths."

"I know Wrex, and I will make sure Doctor Solus knows too. Just don't forget our agreement."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Just call when it's time."

He signed off in a bit of a huff. I wished that I could have given him more support, or that my read of the situation with the data was wrong, but I couldn't and it wasn't. The Council would never accept the idea of a cure for the genophage. If the Salarian Special Tactics Group didn't put a stop to it, the Council would probably send a Spectre to deal with the data. It was safest if I kept it for now. Mordin was eager to go over it too, so I would know what progress was made soon enough. And if it was possible to cure the genophage, that would lead to some interesting options.

My speculations were interrupted by Joker. "Hey boss we are coming in on Ilium now."

I tapped the intercom button. "Thank you Joker."

I turned off the intercom, leaned back in my seat and smiled. Illium. I had never been here before, but I'd heard the rumors about the place. Situated right on the edge of the Terminus Systems and Council Space, it was nominally in Asari space so their laws still applied, but they were only lightly enforced at the best of times. All the graft of Omega hidden behind a thin veneer of Asari class and culture to keep the tourists visiting. It was rumored to be a place where you could buy everything; from exotic drugs, to indentured servants, and all the way up to unregulated military equipment if you had enough money and knew the right people. That wasn't why I was here though, or what I was most looking forward to about this visit. It wasn't even the dossiers Miranda had forwarded me for the Drell assassin or the Asari Justicar. No, those were interesting and potentially helpful, but they couldn't match the real reason I was here.

Liara was on Illium.

The Illusive Man had been the one who'd initially told me, but Garrus and Tali had confirmed it. Since my death she had apparently gained some notoriety as an information broker of no small talent. She'd supplied Garrus with the names of some of his targets and had fed Tali information on Geth movements. There was no doubt in my mind that she would help me, and with a little bit of – persuasion - probably even join the crew again. That thought kept me smiling all the way to the bridge.

* * *

I appeared I wasn't the only one excited either. A concierge greeted me as Garrus, Tali and I disembarked. She informed me that Liara had paid all fees on my behalf and had requested to see me at my earliest convenience. Her directions led us to the center of the city's business district and as I stepped from the shadowed landing port into the open light of the market I stopped. I'd been to big cities before, Sydney on Earth, Persephone on Demeter, and even the Citadel itself, but none of them compared to Nos Astra. The city was massive, older than most of the major cities on Earth, and gleamed golden in the afternoon sun. Everywhere I looked there was massive amounts of wealth on display and I could easily see why people usually forgot that this planet could be just as dangerous as Omega.

"It is beautiful. The Asari never let the flotilla visit this planet, they make us stop almost a light hour away. It is the greatest planet in the galaxy, if you can afford it, and I guess they don't want to spoil that by allowing a dirty Quarian to visit." The bitterness in Tali's voice snapped me out of my reverie and I looked at her. She was leaning on a nearby railing looking at the city's gleaming skyline. I couldn't see her face but her shoulders were slumped and the perky energy she usually held herself with was gone. Garrus was closer than I was and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"That is their loss, Tali." He said kindly.

"I know." She pushed herself off the railing. "There is just so much here that could help my people, and we aren't allowed to even ask for it."

"Fuck'em." I said and they both turned to look at me. "Most of the Asari that make policy here are centuries old, and on top of that they are stupidly rich. Those kinds of people take the long view of everything, and anybody outside their level might as well not even exist. Try not to let their opinions get to you Tali. If stuck up old assholes have stupid opinions that is their problem, not yours."

"Those stupid opinions are cutting us off from resources that could drastically help my people Shepard." She sounded more irritated than actually upset.

"Then we get those resources another way, Tali. If the established Asari are unwilling to help the Quarians then we will do ourselves. Fuck, we are already saving the galaxy from a threat people like the leaders here don't want to admit exists, why not help out your people while we are at it?" I did my very best not to let that last part sound sarcastic or condescending.

"And how exactly do you suggest we do that?" Her tone told me I hadn't been wholly effective at it.

"I don't know yet Tali, but I promise I will do what I can to help." An idea hit me. "One thing we could do is contract with a broker here. If the Asari won't let the flotilla come here, then we will just have to set up a way to bring Illium to the flotilla."

"We have tried that. All of the brokers willing to work on our behalf here charge exorbitant rates once they find out they are working for a Quarian." Now she really did sound bitter.

"Then I'll approach them. No broker is going to try that shit on me. I'll set the deal up and name you as my 'representative'. You can buy whatever you need for the flotilla and I'll arrange for it to get there. Just make sure the flotilla ends up footing the bill and everything will be fine. It won't solve all your problems, but it should let you get some resources at a better price than you otherwise might have. We will work on longer term solutions later on down the line."

Tali was silent for a bit then nodded. "It's a start. You are right, all this really does is save us some credits; but on the scale we are talking that will actually mean something. Thank you Shepard."

"You're welcome. Your people are important Tali, don't let the rest of the galaxy convince you otherwise."

We all stood there for several seconds, not really sure where to go from there until Garrus cleared his throat. "Well it, um, sounds like we have a plan. Should we perhaps get out of the street if we aren't going to keep walking?"

He was right. Our conversation had stopped us in front of a shopping kiosk and the proprietor of the shop was beginning to look a little frustrated. I was tempted to see what the Volus was willing to do about it, but Liara was more important than petty amusements. I gave Garrus a nod and we continued on our way.

Liara had apparently done fairly well for herself as an information broker; her office was in a building overlooking the general trading floor and she had a receptionist and everything. The pink skinned Asari saw us coming at the foot of the stairs leading up to the office and gracefully moved around her desk to intercept us.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

"I am here to see Liara. We're old friends."

"I am sure you are, but Dr. T'Soni is very busy. If you would like, I could make an appointment for you." She brought her data pad up expectantly.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to wait for an appointment. Please tell her that Commander Shepard is here. I am sure she will make room."

The receptionist's expertly rehearsed expression of mild curiosity evolved into genuine interest as she heard my name.

"Oh, Commander, I am sorry I didn't realize it was you." She leaned over her desk to tap a button on her console. "Dr. T'Soni has left instructions that you are to be shown in as soon as you get here."

That was my Liara, always thinking ahead. I gave the receptionist a smile and walked through the now open doors. It was a big office. The entire far wall was made of glass and offered a stunning view of the city skyline and trading floors below. A view that was currently obstructed by the glowering oversized holo of a man in a business suit. A blue skinned Asari stood with her back to the door facing down the man. We had apparently interrupted her in the middle of something.

"Have you ever faced an Asari commando unit before? Few humans have." The voice was Liara's but the words belonged to her mother, the deceased matriarch Benezia. Her tone too was different, hard, and so cold that it made vacuum seem warm by comparison.

"I will make this simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive. With my mind." She tapped a button on the data pad she held and the image of the now worried looking man dissolved.

Something had obviously happened while I was… out of commission… to change the largely innocent archeologist I had known into the uncompromising woman before me. Good. Liara had always had a stronger core than most people had realized, and I was happy to see that she had nurtured that part of herself. In the past I'd mostly glimpsed it at moments of extreme emotion, usually while we were fighting, and once or twice while we were fucking. The smile turned into a leer as those memories returned and I forced it back into a more acceptable expression as I spoke.

"Didn't give him a lot of choice did you?"

She turned at the sound of my voice and the powerful, hard woman dissolved into the affectionate school girl I had known.

"Shepard!" She started to rush to me then stopped herself and regained a modicum of her more reserved manner. "Nyxeris, hold my calls."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other Asari make a polite bow and withdraw from the room. As soon as I heard the doors close Liara rushed to embrace me. I had harbored a few secrete doubts about how her feelings for me may have changed over the past two years, but those vanished as her lips found mine.

The exotic sweetness of her lips recalled an avalanche of memories and awoke a hunger deep inside me. I slid an arm around her waist and kissed her back passionately. She let out a delighted little sound and reached up to cradle my head in both hands. It was all I could do not to start running my hands up and down her body. We stood like that, making out like horny teenagers long enough that Tali eventually let out an uncomfortable cough.

"We can go wait in the hall if you want."

I was seriously tempted to take her up on the offer, but instead broke the kiss reluctantly. We both took a semi embarrassed step back away from each other. Liara blushed, cheeks turning a deeper shade of blue and moved around me to embrace the other two.

"Tali! Garrus! It is wonderful to see you."

"Do I get a kiss?" Garrus asked in a mock hurt voice.

"Did you miraculously come back from the dead?"

"I nearly got my head blown off by a gunship." he said indicating the scars. "Does that count?"

She laughed and went up on tip toes to brush a kiss over his ruined cheek. Garrus smiled. In my peripheral vision I caught Tali turning slightly away from him and heard her let out a little sound of disgust. That was interesting. I would have to look into that later. Liara crossed back around behind her desk to sit down, and I took a seat across from her.

"I am sorry you had to see that. My sources told me you had arrived Shepard, but I didn't expect you so soon."

I crooked an eyebrow. "You have sources now?"

"A few. Sources, contacts, even a little hired muscle. As I am sure you have heard by now, I have been working as an information broker. Its paid the bills since you…well for the last two years." Her voice caught on the last part but she soldiered through.

"And now you are back, gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus if my sources are correct."

Business first I guess then. Well, mostly first. "If you know that then you know that I could use your help."

She sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I wish I could Shepard, but I have commitments here. Things I need to take care of."

I came instantly to point. There had been something in her voice that I didn't like. "What kinds of things do you need to take care of? Are you in trouble?"

The corners of her mouth tugged up in the hint of a smile. "Still my hero I see. No, no trouble. But it has been a long two years. I have debts to repay before I can move on."

A light came into her eyes and she looked past me at Tali. "Actually, if you want to help, I need someone with hacking expertise, someone I can trust."

Despite whatever she had been feeling a few moments before Tali answered immediately. "Whatever you need."

"Thank you Tali. I am sending you a list of data terminals. If you could disable their security it would allow me to get the information I need. When you hack the terminals it will open a nearby server. Once the server is open…"

Tali interrupted her sounding more amused than upset. "I know how to pull information Liara."

Liara blushed again and smiled a little sheepishly. "Of course. I am sorry Tali. It's been awhile since I haven't had to explain my instructions ahead of time."

Tali started to walk towards the door. "Don't worry about it. If it's all the same to you, I am going to go get started."

Garrus pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and moved to join her. "I think I'll go with you. Shepard, you going to be OK alone for a while or should I stick around?"

I gave him a look that combined gratitude and irritation, and he smirked back at me. "I will take that as a yes. You two crazy kids have fun."

He and Tali escaped through door before I could think of a suitable insult to throw after him, the bastard. I turned back to Liara to see her staring after the departed pair, jaw hanging slightly open. She closed it as she saw me looking and gave me a bemused look.

"I don't remember Garrus being that…" She searched for a word for a moment, "cheerful?"

I shrugged. "He's started recreationally killing criminals, seems to have loosened him up a bit."

"Ah. I see."

We sat in silence as I tried to figure out my next move. Ostensibly I was here to get information from Liara about the assassin and the Justicar. That was the reason I had told Miranda anyway; and truth be told I really did need that information. But there was something else I needed first. That kiss had awoken something in me and I burned to repeat it, and more.

"I missed you Liara." I surprised myself with how much I meant it. Recruiting Garrus and Tali had been great. They were two of my strongest allies and having them aboard had started to make things feel normal again; but as good of allies as they were, they weren't the same as Liara or Ashley. They had been my lovers and the two people aboard the old Normandy that I had trusted completely. Jack was fun, and in time she would earn a full place in my trust, but she wasn't there yet. I hadn't realized until I saw Ashley again how much I had missed the openness I had been able to show her and Liara. For almost everybody I had to put on a face, that wasn't true of my lovers. They were the only people I let myself truly be myself around. With the insanity and intrigue I was dealing with now, that kind of trust was something precious and one of the most valuable resources I had. And the sex was fantastic too.

"I missed you too, John." Liara almost never used my first name, knowing I preferred Shepard. For her to use it now showed how much she needed the emotional connection it offered. Her head was down, and her voice was lower and rougher than it had been before.

"This mission is important Liara. I need you." My own voice had grown softer.

She pushed out of her chair and stood to look out of the window behind her. "I know. But I can't leave. Not yet. There really are things I need to take care of. Things that in the long run could be more beneficial to your mission then anything I could do aboard the Normandy."

That took me a bit by surprise. Liara was still fulfilling my mission? I had shared a few of my plans for the future with her after she had become my lover, but I honestly hadn't expected her to follow through with them after my death. "What do you mean?"

"Did Cerberus tell you that I was the one who gave them your body?"

Wait. What? It took me a moment to process what she had said.

"Why?" I couldn't stop myself from asking the question.

She didn't turn away from the window and the reflection of her profile that I caught was conflicted. "They told me they could bring you back."

I got the feeling there had probably been more to it than that, but I also got the feeling that now wasn't the time to ask.

"So I gave you to them." She continued. "And since they were going to bring you back, I figured I might as well get a start on building the foundation of those plans we talked about. It became quickly apparent that the Council and Alliance weren't going to do anything about the Reapers so I took some of the money you had stashed away and set myself up as an information broker. I reached out to the old crew, doing my best to set them up in places where they would be most helpful to you when you came back. I met with… mixed… results. Getting Wrex to return to leadership of clan Urdnot was fairly easy, though I hadn't counted on him trying to unite the entire Krogan people. Garrus needed an outlet for his frustrations, and you were going to need a crack team of soldiers when you returned, so I helped him set up his Archangel operation on Omega. Tali returned to the flotilla before I could hire her and Ash wanted nothing to do with me. I assume I reminded her too much of you. Anyway I have amassed a fair bit of resources and built a respectable little organization for myself here on Illium."

She turned back to face me and the conflict was gone from her face, replaced by a cold, ferocious joy. "And it's all for you, John."

I wasn't really sure how I had crossed the distance between us, let alone gotten around the desk, but the next thing I knew I had Liara in my arms and I was kissing her furiously. I was elated. This magnificent woman! This incredible, wonderful, unbelievably brilliant woman! She had done it! She had taken the initiative, figured out what I would need and then fucking done it! I didn't have to start from scratch now. If Liara was telling the truth, I had a whole information network already set up. Ever if her organization was only half as large as I thought it was it would shave months at least off my plans. This was fucking fantastic!

Liara kissed me back just as aggressively. Her hands danced over my armor, skillfully releasing clasps and undoing hinges. Battle armor was designed to be modular and easy to remove in patches to help medics quickly access wounded areas, and while its designers didn't exactly have sex in mind we had found a way to make it work. I ran my hands up and down her back and over her ass as she worked, cursing the way the armor dulled my sense of touch. But even with that handicap I found the fasteners of her dress and started to undo them. Our kiss matched the frantic need of our hands and our tongues played over and around each other. The codpiece of my armor came loose with an audible click just as I released the final fastener of her dress.

Despite the intense need radiating out from my now barely contained erection I was still faintly disappointed when Liara broke the kiss. She stepped back, a fey light in her eyes, and shrugged out of her dress. The expensive garment that I had barely even registered before now slide down her body like water to pool at her feet, revealing the pale blue perfection of her naked body beneath. I blinked at that. Once or twice Liara had indulged in expensive lingerie under her lab coat for me, but never before had she been completely nude, saying it was impractical. Not that I was complaining, but even through the fog my hormones were inflicting on my brain I realized this was probably another sign of how my lover had changed. She smiled sinfully at my quizzical expression.

"I told you, I knew you were coming. I am a busy woman these days and didn't want to waste time."

Oh yes. Liara had certainly changed in the last two years. In the future I would probably find out things I didn't like about that but right now, I fucking loved it. My answering sneer was just as lustful as hers.

"I love the way you think." Time to test just how much more confident she had become. "Turn around."

She didn't even hesitate, turning to press her hands against the window and present her ass to me. She really was more confident. The old Liara would have also done it, but she would have questioned me first. I unzipped my skin suit, freeing my erection and pressing it against her pussy. Rubbing my length against her drew out a pleased little moan. She was already wet and my cock quickly grew slick with her juices. I shifted my feet and positioned my hands on her hips. Turning a little she pulled one hand off the window, slid it between her legs and guided me inside.

We both moaned as I entered her. Fuck I had missed Liara. She was tight, even tighter than I remembered but so wet that I slid all the way in on the first thrust. I wanted to savor the sensation, but all of the pent up desire I had been holding onto since that first kiss smashed against my self control and shattered it like glass. My hips began to pump and I drove into her over and over. Her full blue ass bounced with every thrust and my momentum knocked her forward pressing her face and chest up against the glass. If she cared she didn't show it. The small part of me that could still think faintly hoped that the office had good sound proofing because otherwise the assistant was getting an earful. The vast majority of me though didn't give a fuck, it was too busy rejoicing in the chorus of cries and moans my dick was drawing out of my beautiful lover. There was no art to our sex, no technique, just pure unrestrained need. I fucked Liara against a window that looked out on the splendor of one of the most majestic cities in the galaxy and felt like a fucking god. Which was exactly how it should be.

After what seemed like only moments she came hard. Her hips spasmed a little, and her already tight pussy clenched down even harder, as if it never wanted to let go of my cock. She slumped against the glass as her arms and legs went a little weak; her scream of ecstasy wrapped so desperately around my name that it drove me over the edge and sent my own orgasm shooting deep inside her.

"Shepard!"

* * *

Miranda watched the Commander's party go up the stairs to T'Soni's office and gave a little sigh of resignation. When Shepard had shared his plans to come to Illium with her she had tried her best to steer him away from the planet, knowing full well that once he was here she wouldn't be able to stop him from getting to T'Soni. Well, that was that then. She found a discrete seat from which she could see both the stairs and the office window and settled in to wait. The window itself, like most of the windows in Nos Astra, was mirrored to reflect the sun in an aesthetically pleasing way. It also served the slightly more practical duty of making it impossible to spy through the window without specialized equipment. She had that equipment back on the Normandy, but it was just a bit conspicuous for use out in public. So instead she would have to settle for a couple of Cerberus toys.

She'd changed out of her usual cat suit and into something more in keeping with the local fashion. The earrings she had paired with the dress were able to project micro holographic lenses that cut down the glare from the windows significantly. She still couldn't see through them perfectly, but was able to distinguish the general shapes of bodies and furniture. It wouldn't let her eavesdrop or read lips, but she would be able to keep a basic eye on what was happening in the office. Despite her preoccupation, she still spotted the man attempting to slide surreptitiously into one of the vacant seats at her table almost before he had even started.

"Jacob." She greeted, not really taking her eyes from the meeting.

"Miranda," her friend's voice was edged with the barest hint of reproach. "What are you doing?"

Oh, great. She thought, he wants to have _this_ talk. There was no real point in trying to lie to him. Oh she could do it certainly, about almost any subject imaginable, but he had caught her this time. She let some of the icy feeling that had been twisting around in her gut ever since they landed on this planet chill her tone.

"I am doing my job Jacob."

"Really?" His own tone was skeptical. "Because I am pretty sure our job is to assist the Commander in taking care of the Collectors. Not spying on him while he reconnects with an old friend."

She turned to look at him more squarely, being careful to still keep the office in her peripheral vision. Jacob was a great soldier, which unfortunately meant that he was a horrible spy. Miranda had always known that he was with Cerberus mostly for her and not because he cared about the organization's mission. He did what he was told, most of the time, but his heart wasn't in the clandestine parts of the job. It was actually what made him such a good pick for the Commander's team she admitted to herself. From the Illusive Man's point of view, losing Jacob wouldn't be a huge hit to the organization as a whole. Aside from the credits he had funneled into the project, Miranda knew that the only thing the Illusive Man would really regret losing, if their suicide mission ended up being just that, was her. Right?

She was sure he would be willing to make that sacrifice—she certainly was—but he would regret it. Wouldn't he? Of course he would. The Illusive Man trusted and relied on her. Didn't he? He had picked her for this mission because of her skills and how much he trusted her. That was what he had said right?

 _No_ , a traitorous little voice in the back of her head whispered. _He picked you for this mission because you are exactly the type of woman that attracts Shepard's attention. Because you can use his attraction to you to control him. That was the basis for your plan with Kelly wasn't it? The Illusive Man ordered you to take her place because of his trust in your ability to not fall for Shepard. Yet, here you are, spying on him in a way that could not possibly gain you any actual intelligence other than to confirm that he is fucking another woman, which you already knew!_

She blinked a few times. Where the fuck had that come from? Miranda was familiar with self-doubt, it had been a constant companion ever since she had found out she was grown out of a petri dish. But never before had it been that aggressive. _Or accurate_ the little voice said again. She smothered that voice viciously, wishing faintly that there was a way to use her biotics inside her own head. She was here for legitimate reasons, regardless of what that traitorous little voice said. The more contacts from his old life that Shepard managed to reconnect with, the less he would need to rely on Cerberus. Her job was to make him come over to Cerberus completely and she would be damned if she was going to fail that mission.

"Miranda?" Jacob's exasperated voice cut through her internal debate. He seemed to have taken her silence for an objection to earlier statement. "I think Shepard has proven himself committed to this mission. He has certainly earned my trust, why hasn't he earned yours?"

Because if she admitted that she trusted him, she realized, she wouldn't be able to deny her attraction to him. Of course, she could never tell Jacob that. "I want to trust him Jacob. But that's not my job. Shepard doesn't trust Cerberus, and that is my job. Until he is fully one of us, I cannot afford to trust him." It was a half-truth—the one she kept using on herself in fact—but it was still a truth.

"He is never going join Cerberus, you have to know that by now. He's just not the joiner type." Jacob put a hand on hers. "But that doesn't mean he isn't fully one of us. Shepard has committed to this mission, to this crew. Regardless of his feelings about Cerberus, I have no doubt that he would take a bullet for anybody aboard the Normandy ."

Well fuck. Deep down Miranda had always known that Shepard would never join Cerberus. It was part of the reason she had reacted so negatively to the Illusive Man's instance that she be the one to… entice… him in the first place. She had never really expected it to work and hadn't wanted to whore herself out to somebody with such a low probability of success. Except now you want him anyway… that fucking little voice was going to get itself murdered one of these days.

She turned squarely to Jacob, finally giving him her full attention. "He is lying to us Jacob, or at least keeping secrets. I know he is."

The former marine gave her an amused look. "Well yeah, of course he is."

"And you are ok with that?" She could hear the exasperation in her own voice.

He shrugged. "Well, yeah. The guy woke up in the custody of an unfamiliar organization, one that tried to kill him last time he saw them, and the highest ranking officer of that organization he sees on a regular basis keeps spying on him."

"I don't…"

"Looks like somebody is coming out."

The speed with which she turned to the stairs was an eloquent rebuttal of her aborted protest. Vakarian and Tali'Zorah were leaving the office, without Shepard. There was something going on between them Miranda was sure. It was clear from the way they leaned in towards each other just slightly as they talked. If they weren't already a couple, then they soon would be. Which at least meant she didn't have to worry about Shepard hooking up with the Quarian. Probably. Not that she cared who he was sleeping with. Except that she did. A lot. Both professionally and, she reluctantly admitted to herself, personally.

Jacobs dry voice brought her back out from the edge of the mental spiral she had been about to fall into. "What was that you were saying about not spying?"

She turned back to him and put her hands up in defeat. "Fine. What do you think I should do?"

He was quiet for several seconds but when he spoke there was no sign of uncertainty in his voice. "Come clean with Shepard. I know that you have tried to be more open with him already, but really come clean. Don't give him all of Cerberus's secretes, but tell him about your actions and objectives. Tell him why you have been spying."

She scoffed. "And then what? Beg his forgiveness?"

"No. Don't apologize. Just be honest. Shepard is a realist. He will understand. Hell, he might even open up to you. All I can say is, right now he knows you don't trust him, so he doesn't trust you. Its apparent to everybody on the ship that there is some friction between you, and in all honesty, it's getting to them. The enlisted crew love him, and they are starting to reconsider their stances on Cerberus."

Her eyes narrowed. That was a problem. Miranda knew her own reputation well enough to know that none of the crew would be willing to talk to her about this sort of thing. But Jacob was another matter. As she had noted before, he was always only loosely accepting of Cerberus and everybody knew it. She could certainly believe that people had come to him if they were starting to have doubts about the organization.

"And you think me coming clean with Shepard will solve that?"

Jacob shrugged. "Couldn't hurt. You are the Illusive Man's personal representation on the Normandy. If the crew sees the two of you getting along, they won't be so inclined to start trying to choose sides." He stood up from the table. "Anyway. That's my unsolicited advice for the day. You do what feels right to you Miranda."

He started to walk away, but she reached out and grabbed his arm. "Thank you Jacob. I might not agree with everything you said, but I appreciate you saying it."

"Of course. Good luck with your stake out."

She let go and returned her gaze to T'Soni's. Her attention though was turned inward, stewing over what Jacob had said. Could he be right? He certainly had a point about the way their mutual distrust was damaging the mission. It wasn't super obvious, and they had both made an effort to get over it, but they still weren't working together the way they should. Could the solution really be as simple as just admitting her feelings to Shepard?

Wait! What? Her feelings? Jacob had said to tell him about her spying; where the hell had she gotten feelings? It's what you want to do. So what if it was? Those 'feelings' weren't going to make things between her and Shepard any less hostile. _Yes, they would. You wouldn't have to pretend you don't want him, and so you wouldn't have to keep coming up with reasons to keep him at arm's reach_. Could she really do that? Just tell Shepard how she felt and then what? Watch as he threw himself at her? Was she so conceited to think that he would just abandon Jack - and whoever else he had taken as a lover - just to have her? Miranda knew just how attractive she was, and she thought she had a handle on how much Shepard wanted her, but she wasn't sure she was that conceited. So what if he didn't give them up? Would that change her feelings? Would she be content to be just another of the Commander's conquests?

Of course not. If she wasn't willing to whore herself out for Cerberus – an organization she had dedicated the majority of her adult life to – then she certainly wasn't going to be content to just be a fuck toy. She wanted Shepard, she would admit that to herself now, but she wasn't going to sacrifice who she was just to be with him. She might talk to Shepard, might even tell him how she felt, but she would not settle. Shepard would have to convince her that he was worth her if he wanted her, she was just willing to let him try now. If he could prove to her that he wasn't just looking for another casual fuck, she would let herself consider him. He would have to be very convincing, but it was technically possible; and more importantly she admitted to herself, it would at least take the immediate responsibility off of her.

She looked back at the office window, reached down to turn on her holo-lenses, and stopped herself. Jacob was right about that at least. If she wanted Shepard to trust her, she would have to start trusting him. So instead of turning her surveillance gear back on, she pulled up her remote connection to the Normandy. It was a nice day after all. Might as well get some work done out here instead of on ship. Her cabin was nice, but it got stuffy after a while. The open air would do her some good. And focusing on things like making sure the ship was fully restocked would help her take her mind off of Shepard.

Her omni-tool beeped to indicate a secure connection, and almost immediately a crimson icon started flashing. The icy feeling that had invaded her stomach while she tried to figure out her next step with Shepard intensified instantly. That icon corresponded to a very specific communications account, and only a few people had access to it. Moving very deliberately, not wanting to show the sudden panic she was feeling, she tapped the icon twice. The words that scrawled across the screen drove any thought of Cerberus, or ship refueling, or even Commander Shepard out of her mind.

[HE KNOWS. HE IS COMING FOR HER.]

There was a file attached to the message that Miranda knew would contain details and meeting times, but she couldn't open it here. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to go sprinting for the Normandy. Instead she restrained herself to a brisk, purposeful walk, eyes scanning the crowd the whole time. If her father knew that Oriana was on Illium, he would almost certainly have spies looking for Miranda. She made it back to the ship without seeing anybody, and headed straight for her office. She had planning to do.

* * *

Liara let out a delicate little moan as I brushed another kiss across her clit. After that first furiously frenetic fuck we had slowed down a little bit. My armor now lay in a pile off to one side and we had cleared a space on her desk for her to lay down. Right now she was propped up on one arm, her other hand resting possessively on the top my head as I continued to kiss and lick at her clit and pussy. The salty taste of my own semen was mixing with the sweetness of Asari cum and the combination brought back memories of other nights. Slowly I extended my middle finger, guiding it gently to join the one already inside her. I rocked my hand back and forth and the moan stretched out into a delightful series of gasps.

"So?" She asked, the words coming out between gasps. "How are *engh* things *oh* on board this new *ahh* Normandy? *GODDESS!*"

She came as she finished the question and I stopped sucking on her clit to look up at her. The view from between her legs of her fantastic breasts heaving as she caught her breath was incredible.

"Oh, they are about the same." I started trailing kisses up her belly as I spoke. Asari skin had a more pronounced pattern than human skin did. Not so much that it could be considered scaly, but just enough to give it an exotic feel that I found intensely erotic against my lips. Especially when it was slick with sweat.

"Lots of running." I said, kissing one dark blue nipple then the other. "Lots of fighting."

I started moving my hand again and alternated curling one finger then the other. Her attempts to catch her breath devolved into another series of breathy gasps and I grinned as I nibbled a little on one nipple. Hands that had curled involuntarily on the edge of the desk released their grip and she used them to drag me up into a kiss. I had to shift my stance a little to reach her and that shift brought my dick brushing against the inside of her thigh. The touch sent shivers racing out from the point of contact and drew a hungry little growl from her. She released my face with one hand, reaching down to slap at my hand.

Instead of pulling out though, I sped up my fingers. Breaking the kiss, I leaned back to give her a teasing little smile. "Not quite yet lover."

She jutted out her lower lip, and treated me to the most adorable little whine. Her hips started rolling against my hand and she stopped trying to swat it away, instead reaching out to wrap her fingers around my cock. With insistent tugs she began to jerk me off. I slid my thumb over her clit, making small circles in time with my fingers. Her pout was too much and I kissed her before she could tempt me into moving faster than I wanted. Our mouths parted and our tongues ran over and around each other. My free hand came up to fondle one breast. Her tits really were fantastic, supple, perky, and exactly big enough for me get one hand around. For half a second I had the weirdest feeling that they hadn't been this size the last time I had held them, but I doubted that Liara would have gotten them enhanced. It must have been my imagination.

After a few moments the pressure on my dick became too much and I couldn't hold myself back any longer. As soon as I withdrew my hand Liara made a pleased sound and guided me inside. Her pussy was soaked with my cum, her cum and pussy juices and again I went deep on the first stroke. I felt her moan of pleasure more than heard it and that sensation was almost enough to get me off all on its own. Instead of fucking her on desk though, I had another position in mind and I hauled her up. Holding her completely off the ground, my cock deep inside her I took a couple to steps back. Our kiss broke when I pulled her up and as I settled her fully onto my shaft she buried her head in my shoulder, biting down hard to muffle the scream my length enticed from her. With her legs wrapped tightly around my waist I started to bounce her on my cock. After a few seconds she released my shoulder and her head fell back. Her eyes were unfocused and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth.

"More. Give me more,"she panted. The naked need in her voice spurred me on and I picked up my pace.

My balls were drenched and they made a fantastic sloppy sound as they slapped her ass over and over. I kept that position up for almost a minute, each thrust going deep into her incredible pussy and drawing a litany of cries and moans intermixed with instinctual, semi-coherent, encouragements and demands.

"Yes. Yes! Fuck Yes! Goddess I have missed you Shepard."

"Liara you are incredible. Fuck! I need you. Fuck yes. Give me that sexy pussy you fucking fantastic woman!"

"Please more. I want it. I want your cock. Yes. Fuck! Fill me up. Yes… Yes… YES! OH GODDESS!"

Her orgasm shook her entire body and threatened to knock us both over. My own legs were growing weak as I approached climax and I knew I would not be able to keep this up much longer. A couple of small careful steps brought us back to her desk and I laid her back down. I shifted my hands up from her ass and onto her hip, keeping a strong grip as I continued to pound her. Liara's arms withdrew inwards, one playing with a breast and the other wrapping around her belly. The sight of her, writhing in mindless, instinctive pleasure finally did it.

"Here I come," I groaned as I felt the wave of pleasure surging, building towards its apex before crashing through me. Her eyes became instantly focused and her legs around my hips tightened, keeping me deep inside her. Arms reached out and pulled my face to hers.

"Yes!" She moaned between frantic kisses. "Yes I want it. Give it to me! Cum inside me you sexy fucking beast!"

And that was fucking that. The orgasm thundered through me and deep inside of her. My whole body shuddered and I screamed in primal savage joy. Liara's scream matched mine, and I don't care how good the office soundproofing was, I am positive the receptionist heard. I also did. Not. Give. A. Fuck.

As the wave of pleasure finished coursing through me I collapsed onto Liara's chest. For several seconds we both just lay there, trying to catch our breaths and enjoying the sensation of skin on skin contact. Seconds stretched into moments until eventually her legs unwrapped from my hips and I half fell half collapsed into her desk chair. It was a really comfortable chair actually and I let my head fall against the headrest and closed my eyes. I opened them again several seconds later as something warm and delicious enveloped my cock.

Liara stood over me, the fingers of one hand moving steadily in and out of her pussy and the other hand on my thigh to support herself as she sucked industriously at my dick. I started to protest and she released me long enough to give me an innocent look.

"You are all messy." She said. "I'm cleaning you off."

I was very, very tempted to let her continue. Instead I reached out and pulled her onto my lap. As much as I wanted to just spend the entire day here, fucking this incredible sex goddess, I did in fact have things to do. And to be honest, I needed a moment to catch my breath.

"Give me a moment to rest sweet thing." I said smiling.

"Fine." She pouted, but nestled against me anyway and I slid one arm around her shoulders. Idly she started to trace patterns in the sweat on my chest. After several moments of silence, she asked a question.

"Did you really miss me?" Her voice was low and soft and I looked down to find her not looking at me. Gently I reached down and lifted her chin until she was looking into my eyes.

"Of course I did Liara. How could you even ask that?"

Her eyes slid away from mine. "You didn't contact me after you came back."

Ok, that was fair. "I couldn't sweet thing. Cerberus monitors transmission I send, and I didn't want to give them any special reason to come for you. They don't trust me. That was why it took me so long to come here. I needed an excuse, a reason to come to Illium outside of just you. If I spent too much time contacting old allies I was worried they would pull their support of my mission, and I need support. If I had known about your organization I might have done things differently, but I don't really know for sure."

She absorbed that for several seconds then asked in an even softer voice. "Are you sure it wasn't because you found somebody else onboard your pretty new ship and forgot all about me?"

Was Liara actually jealous? That would be understandable I guess but at the same time… a twinkle in her eye gave her away and I scowled at her.

"You're mocking me." I accused.

She grinned and snuggled in a little tighter against me. "Ok. Yes." Her tone turned a little more serious. "But I really do assume you have already found at least one new lover. Who is she?"

I raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"

She gave me a very frank look. "Because if you hadn't found at least one new lover by now, there is no way you would have stopped me just now. Not after two years. So, who is it? Lawson? Ms. Goto?" Her eyes got wide and she sat up a bit. "It's not Tali is it?"

I laughed. "No, no, it's not Tali."

She sighed and slumped back against me. "Oh good. She and Garrus need to get together."

I grinned and started lightly playing with one of the breasts pressed against my chest. "You noticed that too?"

"Mm-hmm. They bonded a lot after your death. If Tali hadn't been recalled to the fleet it would have happened already. Now, stop stalling. Who is it?"

I might as well tell her. She was certain to find out anyway. What with her being a big shot information broker now she probably had access to sources that could get her that information. Or, more likely, she would just ask Garrus or Tali. Besides, I didn't keep secrets from her anyway, at least, not about this.

"Jack." I said, watching her reaction closely.

She didn't miss a beat. "The biotic ex-con?"

I nodded. "She is pretty rough around the edges, but a real fireball in bed."

"I believe it. My files say she is more than a little crazy."

"You have files on Jack?"

"Please Shepard. I have files on your whole squad. I told you I was doing everything I could to help you. That included vetting everybody you are working with now." Liara's tone was dry, matter of fact, as if what she was saying should be perfectly obvious. Which in retrospect I guess it was. I guess I would have to get used to thinking of her as a spymaster now, instead of the innocent archeologist I had first met.

"Jack isn't the first person I would have expected you to select." She continued in a musing tone. "My money had been on Lawson, or failing that Goto. But I guess I can see how Jack might have been convenient. Do you trust her?"

That was an important question and I took my time answering it. "I don't think she will lie to me, and I trust her to back me against Cerberus. She had plenty of trust issues of her own and it is making the process slow. But I think in time that I will, yes."

Liara nodded against my chest. "Ok. I will send you my files on all your crew, maybe hers will have something in it that will help you build that trust."

"Thank you." I was honestly a little surprised by the offer. Liara had always accepted that I would have lovers besides her, and had even helped to recruit Ashley, but it still seemed a little bit weird for her to be this open about it. Maybe it had something to do with the Asari culture. They were less hung up on the notion of monogamy then most species I had met.

"When are you going to tell her about me?"

Now that was a very good question. "Soon. I haven't explicitly explained the situation to her the way I did with you. But I have also made it clear that she isn't my only lover. We haven't discussed it yet, and I expect that it won't go quite as it did for us, but ultimately I am confident in a positive outcome."

She accepted that and we lapsed back into silence for several moments. Eventually it was my turn to ask a question. "Have you taken any other lovers? Are they the reason you don't want to leave Illium?"

"No." Her reply had a faintly surprised and hurt quality to it, as if she was surprised I had asked it. "I know you said that I could if I wanted to, but honestly I have been so busy, and I knew that you were coming back, so it never happened."

That was my girl. I kissed the top of her head gently and she snuggle up a little more against me. I hadn't really been worried that Liara would have stepped out on me, even with my permission, but confirmation was always better than supposition. It wasn't something I usually worried about, but I admitted to myself that two years was a long time to wait, even for me. I wouldn't have held it against her if she had indulged herself once or twice, as long as she returned to me when I came back. Sex was fun, and I couldn't deny any of my lovers the opportunity to enjoy themselves. No, where I drew the line with that was at loyalty. Dalliances, flings, these things happened and were fine, but that was absolutely not negotiable. My lovers got my trust, and in return I expected their loyalty. It was gratifying to have my faith in Liara justified.

"So, since I can't come with you yet, how else can I help?"

I considered for a moment. As I thought I started to trace my fingers meaningless shapes and patterns, starting at her shoulder and moving slowly down her back. She shivered a little in response and her own fingers started to copy the movements on my chest.

"I need information about a couple of people who recently arrived in Nos Astra. An Assassin, Thane Krios, and Samara, who is something called…"

"A Justicar." There was something in her tone when she said it, and I looked quizzically down at her. She was scowling lightly and her finger on my chest had stopped.

"Yeah. One of those. I gather they are something important?"

"They are a monastic order, sort of like the Jedi from that movie we watched. They are… important… to the our culture and almost never leave Asari space. Absolutely deadly warriors, I can see why you want her aboard the Normandy. "

"Well." I said, hand reaching her ass and flexing to grab one fantastic cheek before continuing its idle patterns. "If I can't have you yet, I guess a semi-mystic super warrior will be an acceptable substitute. Until you are ready that is. Wait. You said they were monastic? Are there any religious precepts or elements I should be aware of or worried about?"

She gazed into the middle distance for a second or three. "Yes. And no. The Justicar subscribe to a very strict code structure, so Samara herself is likely to be a little rigid. But they also don't proselytize their code." She smirked up at me. "So don't worry about her trying to convert you or guide you down the path of celibacy or anything. Just don't make her break her code. If she gives you her loyalty, she will follow your orders until your mission is complete. After that she owes you nothing, and the stories of Justicar retribution for abuse of their honor aren't pretty. There is a rumor that the reason Aria T'Loak spends so much time out in the Terminus system holed up on her rock is because she pissed of a Justicar once. I'm not sure if it's true, but should give you an idea as to how scary they are. So be careful John."

That was something to think about. Aria was one of the more dangerous people I had ever run across, if she was really that far out of the way of galactic civilization in order to avoid the attention of one of these Justicars… this would certainly be an interesting interaction. I looked forward to the challenge.

"Do you have information on Samara's whereabouts?"

Liara shrugged fractionally. "I am sure I do. Like I said, Justicar don't leave Asari space all that often, even Illium is fringe enough that one being here is a big deal. I am sure I can find out where she is in no time."

"And Krios? Any good at finding assassins?"

"That usually depends on if I was the one who hired them." She smirked at my raised eyebrow. "Illium is a dangerous place, Shepard. The ones I didn't hire might be after me, so it's good to keep track of them. I will consult my files. When do you need the information by?"

My tracing fingers came to rest on her pussy around the same time hers wrapped themselves around my cock. "Oh, no huge rush."

Her eyes were hooded and sinful. "Good." She purred.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Miranda had been right. The message had indeed contained details. Details she didn't fucking need. They hadn't told her how, or when her father had found out about Oriana, they had just said that he did. Repeatedly, in several fucking different ways. It was great to know that he was coming, and she really was thankful for the forewarning, but she hated the fact that nobody seemed to be able to tell her _how_ he had found out. Only a few people had known that Oriana was even on Illium; herself, Lanteia, Niket, and the Illusive Man. Miranda knew she hadn't let anything slip. Lanteia was the head of Miranda's personal network on Illium and had a standing contract for double any bribe she was offered. She'd known Niket since she was a child, and she highly doubted that her father had been able to get to the Illusive Man. So she'd followed up on the contacts included with the warning hoping for any clue but no-one she'd been able to get through to had known anything new.

After an hour of fruitless calls to Cerberus contacts she'd finally reached out to Lanteia. The Asari still didn't know how her father had found out about her sister, but had been able to fill her in on the updated plan for moving Oriana. Niket had contacted Lanteia with a warning that Miranda's father had contracted Eclipse mercenaries to recover Oriana and that they were likely on the lookout for Miranda as well. To help get around this he'd suggested that he be the one to escort Oriana and her family to the shuttle terminal while Miranda distracted them. She was grateful that Niket was involved in this. If she couldn't be there overseeing things personally, there was nobody she would rather have had. Which led to her current problem.

She needed to find a team to help her deal the mercenaries while Oriana was extracted. Illium had been one of the major conduits for supplies for the Lazarus project and over the last couple of years she had cultivated quite the collection of contacts and sources. Problem was, with the exception of Lanteia - who was explicitly paid to watch Oriana- she didn't trust any of them. Most were smugglers, or gangster, or even worse, business executives. They were highly useful as informants or go-fors, but not for anything nearly as sensitive as this. She had reached out to the actual Cerberus cell on Illium, but Operator Cardonis had informed her all of his field operatives were currently on assignment and that it would take him a few days to call a team together. Since the exchange was going down tonight, that left her with no choice but to recruit from within. And that meant Shepard.

She hated having to ask him for help with his. Hated every bloody thing about it. She could just imagine his smug, superior face as she came begging for his help. She couldn't even make up a lie about it being some kind of Cerberus operation because she couldn't afford the possibility that he would be stubborn about agreeing to it. No, she would have to tell him everything, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. But it wasn't like she had a lot of choice was it? Scowling, she reached out and tapped a combination into the intercom on her desk.

Several seconds later a perky voice answered. "Yeoman Chambers, what can I do for you Operator Lawson?"

Miranda ran a hand over her forehead and through her hair, let out a sigh, then took the plunge. "Is the Commander in, Yeoman?"

"I'm afraid not ma'am. He stopped by the ship about an hour ago to collect Grunt and Mr. Massani then left again. I can try to call him if you would like?"

Damn. "No, Ms. Chambers, that is fine. When he returns please inform him that I'd like to speak with him."

"Of course ma'am."

Miranda disconnected, put her elbows on the desk, and rested her head in hands. Ok, if Shepard wasn't back yet she would just have to set the mission up without him. There was one other person aboard who she knew would help her. She took a moment to collect herself, then pushed away from her desk and headed for the ship's armory.

The airlock beeped as it finished its decontamination process and the doors slid open to reveal the smiling face of Kelly Chambers. The perpetually chipper redhead held a data pad, and was very clearly waiting for me.

"Welcome back aboard, Commander!"

I gave her an answering smile. Kelly had jumped out as an obvious plant from almost the first moment I had met her, but despite that I'd grown fond of her. She was just so obviously happy that it was impossible not to like her. Even Jack had expressed her expletive filled appreciation for the upbeat Yeoman.

"Thank you, Kelly. Please allow me to introduce Justicar Samara." I turned and indicated the Asari woman standing behind my left shoulder. "Samara, this is Kelly Chambers. She is my personal aid as well as the ship's Yeoman. She'll show you around and help you get situated."

"Yeoman Chambers." Samara's voice was silky smooth and carried a weight of experience and serenity that I found fascinating. There was also a pain hidden beneath that control, but that was hardly surprising. I'd found her killing criminals for little more reason then that they were criminals, and if half of what Liara's files had said was true, casual vengeful justice was just the tip of the iceberg. With time I hoped to be able to get to know the woman better, that experience would be incredibly useful. And, I sneered to myself, she is incredibly attractive.

I returned my attention to Kelly. "Before you show Samara around, Kelly, was there a reason you were waiting for me?"

She pulled her eyes away from Samara, and I idly wondered if she'd been looking at the woman's face or her armor's plunging neckline. "Oh, yes, Commander. XO Lawson asked to speak with you when you got back aboard. And you have several new messages waiting for you at your private terminal."

The messages could wait, but Miranda's request sparked some interest. We'd been doing a bit of an awkward dance she and I. It was obvious she still didn't trust me, and I was pretty sure she'd realized I didn't really trust her. However, recently we'd both made an effort to change that, and it was possible that this request was the next step along that path. I hoped it was. Despite our antagonism, or hell maybe because of it, I respected Miranda more than I had expected to. She was an intensely attractive woman and if hadn't been for that little matter of her ranking within Cerberus I would have pursued her more actively already. However, Miranda was dangerous beyond her combat skills. My lovers were the people that I was most open and honest with, and I couldn't risk spilling something that she could bring back to the Illusive Man. That was the reason I hadn't taken Kelly up on her less than subtle offers too, actually. But where it was fairly easy with her, Miranda could have been designed not only for general perfection but to attract me personally. She was one of the most highly skilled operators I had ever met, even among the other N7 graduates. She was smart, stunningly beautiful, and capable of standing up to me. She pushed each and every button I had, and I just knew that was why the Illusive Man had put her in charge of me. So until I could establish a mutual trust, any potential relationship was completely stalled.

I refocused on Kelly, who was still standing expectantly. "I guess I better see what Miranda wants then. Kelly, please help Samara settle in." I turned to face the Justicar. "Once you have had a chance to settle in we will make time to sit down and go over the details of the mission and you can tell me a bit more about your code so I can make sure not to step on it."

She inclined her head gracefully. "I look forward to it Commander. Ms. Chambers, I am ready when you are."

Kelly led Samara deeper into the ship, chatting pleasantly. Grunt and Zaeed, who'd been standing a little awkwardly behind us, took the opportunity to also enter the ship; the mercenary quietly wishing me luck as he passed. As I headed for Miranda's office I wondered faintly if he knew something I didn't.

When Cerberus had designed the new _Normandy_ they put the executive officer's suite in the same location as the old captain's quarters. The engineers had expanded the size of the room in proportion to the rest of the ship's build out and it now featured an office in addition to the sleeping area. A pair of picture windows offered breathtaking views of space. I mean, they were no fish tanks, but were nice enough I guessed. Miranda herself sat at her usual spot behind the desk. She looked up as the doors slide closed behind me, and I thought I caught a glimpse of worry in her face before her usual mask asserted itself. She quickly tapped a few keys, blanking her terminal screens before resting her hands on the desk. I considered giving her a hard time about that, then discarded the idea. The goal was to build trust, not antagonize her.

"Kelly said you wanted to see me?"

"Shepard, I find myself in the unpleasant position of asking for your help." Her voice had an odd tempo to it and I got the feeling she had actually rehearsed this. I started to speak but she held up a hand and I stopped. "I don't like discussing personal matters… but this is important."

I leaned back on a hip and motioned for her to continue.

"You know my father designed me to be perfect. Well, when I found out he was more interested in a dynasty than a daughter I left."

Her voice made it sound like she did a little more than that. "I assume he didn't take it well?"

She gave me a grin that blended pride and sadness. "Several of his men were… injured… during my escape. He knows not to come after me at this point, but I'm afraid that's the problem."

Well that wasn't cryptic or anything. "Then what _is_ the problem?"

The cocktail of emotions that passed over her face was too complex for me to figure out, but it was certainly hard to miss. That was extremely unusual for the normally confident woman and I found myself standing up a little straighter and paying more attention. Whatever it was that was bothering her, it was important.

"I have a sister. A twin. And he is still hunting her. Cerberus has kept her safe. Until now. She had been living a normal life on Illium, but my sources say my father has found her. I've tried to keep her hidden without impacting her life, but I am out of options."

Oh. Well ok then. That answered a couple of questions, raised about a hundred more, but answered a few. I didn't press those questions right now though.

"How can I help?" If there had been a situation more tailor made to help build trust between us I couldn't figure out what it was. Of course, there was always the possibility that this was a setup, some ploy on her and Cerberus's end to try to more fully gain my trust. For some reason though, I doubted it. There was something about Miranda that made me think this was real. Maybe it was the uncharacteristic hesitance, or how tightly she held herself. Whatever it was, I felt sure that this was real.

"Just like that?" She sounded skeptical.

I sighed. "Look, we might not have the best working relationship Miranda, but you're still part of my crew. You need help, I help. It's that simple. If your sister really is in trouble then we don't have time to waste playing games. If you want, we can go right back to not trusting each other once she is safe."

She eyed me for several seconds, as if she didn't quite believe me, then something broke and she smiled minutely. "Fair enough, Shepard."

Her attitude and behavior became businesslike as she delivered a concise mission briefing. "A trusted associate of mine, Niket, is moving Oriana and her family tonight. Unfortunately, my father's hired Eclipse mercenaries to intercept him. Niket knows about the mercs and is taking the family on an alternate route. Our job is to take the original air car and draw their attention so he can make a clean getaway."

That sounded good, though I was surprised she wasn't going to oversee the transfer herself. "When?"

She smiled a little sheepishly at me. "2100 hours local."

The clock on her desk read: 1934 local, 2218 shipboard. "Cutting it a little close aren't we?"

The smile thinned. "I was getting ready to go without you actually." I raised an eyebrow and she scowled at me. "Like you said, we're cutting it close. I didn't know when you were getting back."

Ok, that was fair. "Give me 5 minutes to rearm, then I am ready to go. Do you want me to grab anyone else?"

She shook her head. "I already talked to Jacob. He's prepping the air car."

I should have seen that coming. Of course Miranda would ask Jacob for help with this, he was the only person aboard that she really trusted after all. "Alright. One last thing though, Miranda."

She stiffened, probably expecting me to ask for some kind of price or concession on her part. Well, she was in for a surprise, because I had something a little different in mind.

"This is your mission and your sister on the line." Her eyes narrowed but she didn't interrupt. "In my mind, that means you are in command. I will follow your lead on this."

The glare lasted for a moment longer, then she bowed her head. "Thank you Shepard." She said very quietly.

I nodded and left to collect more thermal clips. I had a feeling I would probably end up needing them.

Miranda sat in the plush leather seat of the air car and watched Shepard out of the corner of her eye. He was being surprisingly accommodating and she didn't trust it. She'd expected him to put up more of a fight about helping her. Not to say no, but to try to get something from it. She certainly hadn't expected him to straight up give her command. It was just possible, she admitted, that she'd misjudged the commander. But it was at least equally possible that he was playing some kind of game here, being as accommodating as possible so he could lure her into trusting him. Well, if that was what he was doing, it was working. Miranda honestly believed him when he said that she was in command and he was just there to support her. Who knew, maybe Jacob was right. Maybe after this she should just sit down with the commander and hash things out. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be worrying about this. There would be plenty of time once Oriana was safe to figure out what she was going to do about Shepard.

Her shaking head brought something into view and she stiffened. "Shepard."

"I see them," he said from the pilot's seat. "They are trying to force us down."

Miranda swiveled in her seat until she found the other gunships. Along with the first one she'd noticed they had them pretty well boxed in. A third ship would have made this intercept ideal, but two was unfortunately enough to do the job. Their car was unarmed and unprotected so there was no way they could fight their way out. They probably had better acceleration than the gunships but running would just get them shot down a little further away. No, it looked like their best chance would be…

"Put us down ahead, Shepard. We might as well see what they want."

"Aye aye, ma'am." He said in his best impersonation of Lt. Moreau. She glared at him. Was he actually enjoying this?

"On the bright side." He continued in his own voice. "You can stop looking for a place to steal a gunship from, Miranda. I think these lovely people just volunteered."

"Steal a gunship?" Jacob asked from the backseat.

She sighed. "Shepard wants a gunship for tactical flexibility. Since it's a bit outside our budget, he is suggesting we steal one."

There was a thoughtful silence for a moment then: "Yeah, ok, I could see that. You think we should sick Kasumi on them? Or just ask Garrus and Zaeed to pay a visit?"

Next to her Shepard grinned and Miranda rolled her eyes. She knew what they were doing, deflecting the concerns of being boxed in by a pair of heavily armed hostile gunships with humor, but that didn't make them any less irritating. Shepard brought the air car in for a landing and their escorts shot ahead of them before descending to deploy their own occupants. They lifted off a few moments later and rocketed away.

"Not staying for the party?" Jacob asked as he followed Shepard out of the car. The commander rolled his shoulder as he watched the departing gunships.

"Probably don't want to hang around here longer than they have to. I'm sure they paid off somebody, but still probably better for them not to hang around where somebody might report them. Besides," he pointed at the group of armored figures headed towards them. "probably figure their buddies over there are more than we can handle anyway."

His grin faded and he turned to face her squarely. "How do you want to handle this?"

Looked like he was sticking to letting her call the shots. Good. "Let me talk to them. Don't start anything but we aren't going to take any shit either."

Both of the men flanking her nodded and as one they set out to meet the approaching mercenaries. The man leading the other group wore stylized yellow combat armor with the Eclipse insignia stenciled on the chest. Her resolve firmed up a little at the sight and she sneered at him. These were the people her father had hired to kidnap her sister. If they'd expected to get her that easily then they were going to be sorely disappointed. By now Niket had to have Oriana halfway to the extraction site.

"Since you're not firing I trust you know who I am?" Maybe he would buy it and think she was his target. It was worth a try anyway.

"Yeah, they said you would be in the car. You're the bitch who kidnapped our boss's baby girl."

Her heart sank. If they'd known she was in the car, then that meant they probably knew about Niket. Well, if that was the case then she just needed to get to them as soon as possible. If that meant going through these assholes then fine.

"This doesn't concern you. Take your men and go." She said, in one last attempt to end this quickly.

The man sneered at her. "You think you got this all lined up, huh? Captain Enyala is already moving in on the kid. She knows about Niket. He won't be helping you."

That lit a fire inside her. This fucking prick was standing between her and her sister and she wasn't going to sit here and let him waste any more of her time. The man was spouting something about how amazing his captain was but she wasn't listening. Her hand came up, and her submachine gun spat fire into the man's companion. Even as he staggered and fell her hand was tracking towards the man himself. Jacob beat her to it though, his shotgun shattering the man's armor and turning his chest into a ragged red mess. Shepard ignored the remaining mercenary, his fire instead lancing past him and into something down range. She didn't stop to see what. Instead she slammed her free hand out, concentrated, and wrapped the final goon in a biotic warp. The unstable and competing gravities and mass conversions wrenched at the unlucky son of a bitch and she distinctly heard several bones snap. Jacob's follow up shotgun blast was a mercy more than anything else. Whatever Shepard had been shooting out down range exploded and she jerked her face towards the noise. The shattered remains of the second Eclipse squad lay intermixed with pieces of what looked like an industrial fuel tank.

Miranda looked around, weapon up and scanning for new targets, but there were none. She, Shepard, and Jacob had eliminated more than twice their number in under ten seconds. Unconsciously she ejected the half spent thermal clip and slotted in a fresh one, they were only just getting started.

The gunships had forced them down several levels below, and on the wrong side of the dock, from where Niket was leading Oriana and her family. Taking point, Miranda led them towards the closest elevator. It turned out the mercs had left a rear guard to cover that route. Eclipse soldiers weren't bad as far as guns for hire went, they just weren't good enough. The first one to poke his head around a crate took a burst from her Locust square in the face. His shields were up to the task of stopping the rounds but the spray of sparks blinded him to Shepard's follow up concussive shot. It smashed into him, the impact picking him up and throwing him against the far wall. His buddies whirled around from behind their own crates, both of them concentrating their fire on Shepard who staggered a little under the multiple impacts. Miranda overloaded one guy's shields then gunned him down in withering hail of fire. Jacob took the other one, using his biotics to drag the merc into shotgun range then blowing a bloody hole in him.

The first guard was starting to recover from being smashed into the wall, his hand twitching towards his dropped rifle. She stalked forward and stomped on his wrist. Combat armor was great for sudden impacts, but it didn't do a whole lot of good against sustained pressure, especially not at the joints. Bones broke and the man screamed.

"How many more?" She demanded, grinding her foot down on his shattered arm.

"Fuck... You..." He growled through the pain.

She shot him. Oriana didn't have time for her to play games with these fucking idiots. Crouching down she fiddled with his helmet until she could remove the integrated radio, then straightened. Somebody had called the elevator while she worked and both Shepard and Jacob were already inside waiting for her.

"I got his radio," she explained in response to their quizzical looks. "I'll patch us in, see if we can't get an idea what we are up against."

Jacob nodded and turned to the elevator's controls. Shepard continued to look at her though and she grew a little uncomfortable. Had he put together what that Eclipse leader was saying earlier? Did he realize that Oriana wasn't the same age as her? Fuck, she didn't need this right now. Need it or not though she should probably deal with the questions now instead of later.

"Shepard…" She started hesitantly. "I think I owe you an explanation. Oriana is my twin, genetically. But my father…"

He put a hand up to stop her. "Miranda, I don't need to know the story right now. You can tell me all about it later. I agreed to help you protect your sister, that is all that matters right now."

That shut her up and it took her a moment or two to find her voice. When she did she could hear the relief in it. "Thank you, Shepard."

He gave her a rakish smile and set about prepping his gear. She turned back to working on the radio, obstinately patching its signal into their shared circuit. Inside her mind was racing though. Shepard wasn't pushing this. He really was trusting her to lead this mission. Well, of course he was. He had nothing on the line here, it was her sister after all. This was a golden opportunity for him to indebt her to him without really risking anything. Hell, none of his trusted allies were even here. Which, she had to admit, also meant that he was trusting her to some degree. He had followed her and her most loyal ally on a private secret mission that they hadn't told any other member of the crew about without blinking. If she'd been in his place, and he had asked her to accompany him and Garrus or Jack on something like this, she would have said no. Well, no, she would have gone along; she just would have set up several contingency plans in case they decided to pull something. Which all evidence suggested he hadn't done. It was actually entirely possible he was simply trusting her. Or he was playing her, trying to get into her good graces just so he could…

She forced herself to stop. She was thinking herself in circles here. Either Shepard was here to help because he honestly wanted to help, or because he was working an angle; either way he was here and she needed him. What she didn't need was to be so caught up in worrying about his motivations that she failed Oriana. With a mental shake she refocused on the task at hand.

"Ok," she said, and the other two turned to look at her. "This will drop us off on the far side of the docks from the elevator that leads to the extraction point. Niket is going to bring Oriana and her family to that point in a little under twenty minutes. If what that asshole back there said is true, then they know about him. They obviously already know about us. Normally I would say we should try to work our way around them, but there isn't time for that. We are going straight through. Shepard, you're on point, make us a hole."

He nodded and the hard little smile he wore mirrored her own. They did a final weapons check as the elevator slowed. There was a soft ping as it came to a halt and they all tensed. Over the hijacked radio they heard somebody giving orders to the effect of: 'stop them at all costs'. Well, they could bloody try. The doors slid open and they charged out.

Eclipse did bloody try. They did their level best to stop her, but it wasn't nearly good enough. Every obstacle Eclipse threw up Shepard smashed down. Mechs, techs, biotics, it didn't fucking matter, he tore a hole in all of them, sometimes literally. Miranda was well aware of her own skills, and over the last few weeks she thought she had gotten an appreciation of his. Either he had been holding something back, or he was extra motivated this time, because he was a fucking beast. She guided them through, over, and around the docks towards the far elevator; and everywhere they went, they left destruction in their wake. It honestly felt pretty fucking good. These mercs thought they could take Oriana back to that monster, they deserved everything they got. She took a vindictive pleasure in the way the orders they were intercepting shifted from cocky to worried to downright terrified. Everything was going perfectly, there was only one last group between her and her destination. Then a message came through that hit it like a physical blow.

"Niket has reached the terminal. He's going to switch the family to our transport. Hold the bitch a little longer."

The words came just as she was lining up a shot and her burst left a line of glowing holes in the crate next to her target instead of in him. She didn't notice though as everything seemed to stop for a second. The radio had said Niket, but that couldn't be right. Niket was her friend, he was the man who'd helped her escape. There was no way he would be helping her father. None. It had to be some kind of…

She was pulled out of her head when Shepard slammed into her, dragging her to the ground half a second before a rocket roared its way through the spot she'd been standing in. They crashed to the ground and the impact pulled her fully back to her senses. She was instantly aware of Shepard pressed against her, face just inches from hers. It was an intensely intimate position, and for a heartbeat neither of them said anything. Then the rocket hit a box behind them and the concussive wave buffeted them. Her hair whipped up into his face and the moment was shattered. They rolled apart before any of the mercs could get a bead on them and Miranda scrambled to her feet behind another of the omnipresent crates. She'd lost her Locust in the fall, so she pulled her Carnifex. The heavy pistol was of limited use against the heavily shielded Eclipse troops, but she had a solution for that. Gritting her teeth she leaned out around the corner of her box, found the guy with the rocket launcher, and overloaded his shields. He should have dropped back behind cover to let his shields recover; instead he wasted precious seconds bringing his launcher around and Miranda shot him in the face.

A shotgun roared somewhere off to her left and the fight was over. She stalked forward and scooped her Locust up from where it had fallen and inspected it while she walked to the elevator. There was a long scuff along one side and she fired a burst into the body of the rocketeer as she passed to make sure it still worked. Jacob was the first one to the elevator and he turned to cover them as she and Shepard entered. She hit the button for the upper dock's and the doors slide closed.

"So..." Jacob's sounded like he wasn't sure he should be asking this, but he continued on anyway. "How well do you know this Niket, Miranda?"

"Niket is my oldest friend."

"And you trust him?" There was no judgement in his voice, and she knew that Jacob was just trying to establish the tactical situation, but the question hurt anyway. It hurt because up until today she would have said yes without a hesitation. Now though. " _He's going to switch the family to our transport."_ Now she wasn't as sure as she wanted to be. She didn't want to think about Niket as a traitor, but the incredible intellect her bastard father had "gifted" her with - and that she had spent her entire professional life refining - mercilessly pointed out that her father had found out about Oriana somehow. Aside from herself or the Illusive Man, Niket was the one most well positioned to sell her out. He'd known about Miranda's role as decoy - he'd planned the bloody operation. If he'd wanted to keep her as far away from the exchange as possible… She shook her head. Again, she just didn't have enough information.

"I don't know who to trust right now," she admitted, shoulders slumping. Somebody put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up expecting to see Shepard standing next to her. Instead it was Jacob and he smiled at her.

"You can trust me." It was very possibly the cheesiest and most cliché thing he possibly could have said, and yet it was still good to hear. She returned his smile and straightened her back.

"Maybe the captain knows we are listening in and she is feeding us misinformation about Niket making the switch," Shepard suggested. She looked at him and he shrugged. "He's our only ally. If I knew my opponents were supposed to meet somebody, I'd try to drive a wedge between them."

It was a good point. She wasn't sure how they could have figured out they were tapping their comms but if they had it would be the smart move. Her anger flared, driving out the emptiness that logic had instilled. She just didn't have enough bloody information and they were running out of time.

"We need to find out," she snarled. Slamming her omni-tool into the elevator's controls she overrode the systems safety locks and their acceleration doubled. As they rose she retreated inward, shaving off just a fraction of her attention to keep an eye on the level indicator. Shepard and Jacob had questions she was sure, but they respected her need to center herself. She appreciated that, because she really did need this time.

Niket was her oldest friend. While it was possible he had betrayed her, she doubted it. At the very least she doubted he'd have done it voluntarily. Nonetheless she had to be prepared for the possibility that he had been the one to tell her father where Oriana was. If he was, he was dead. Miranda did not trust easily, and she didn't extend second chances if that trust was broken. If Niket had betrayed her, she would kill him. It was just that simple. The elevator's level indicator approached their destination and she returned her full attention to the matter at hand.

"Any special instructions, Miranda?" Shepard's tone was curious not confrontational and she marveled again at how willing he was to take a back seat.

"Niket is mine. Whatever happens, he is my responsibility." Her voice had regained its cold edge. Both men nodded their understanding. They moved to stand behind her as the elevator slowed. With a final tremor it came to a stop and the doors slid open, revealing Niket less than ten meters away.

Her oldest friend, the man she trusted above all other people in the known galaxy, was talking to an Asari in a space port official's uniform; and sitting on a crate next to him was another Asari in the by now all too familiar yellow armor of the Eclipse. All three turned as the elevator's doors opened and Niket's face went from irritated to dismayed as he recognized her.

"Miri." He breathed, dismay turning to chagrin and finally fear. The Eclipse Asari muttered something Miranda didn't quite catch and hopped off the box to level a shotgun at them. Behind her she heard Shepard and Jacob level their own weapons. That was apparently too much for the spaceport official because she took off running. The mercenary gunned her down before she made it three meters. Miranda registered all of it from inside the eye of a storm of rage. Niket's presence confirmed his complicity, and his betrayal.

"Niket. You sold me out." She marveled at how level her voice was. "Why Niket? You were my friend. You helped me get away from my father!"

He flinched as if her words had been a physical assault. "Yes!" he half yelped. "Because you wanted to leave. That was your choice! But if I'd know that you'd stolen a baby-"

"I didn't steal her! I rescued her!" The calm was gone from her voice now. What right did he have to judge her? He was the one here with mercenary troops trying to take a girl away from her family.

"From a life of wealth and happiness?" He shot back, anger replacing his shame. "You weren't saving her! You were getting back at your father!" He gesticulated angrily at her. "When your father contacted me and asked me to help get Oriana back I told him to go to hell because I knew there was no way that you would do something like that; at least not without telling me. But then you did tell me." His face grew rigid and his voice took on a defiant air. "I called your father back that night."

He did what? He'd been the one set this whole thing up? The storm in her stomach became a maelstrom and it was all she could do not to shout her response. "Why didn't you contact me, Niket? We've been through a lot. You could have at least let me explain."

"I deserved to know that you'd stolen your sister in the first place, Miri!" He spat back. "I deserved to know you were with Cerberus! But I had to hear that from your father too."

His words bit deep, because on some level she knew he was right. She should have talked to him about taking Oriana years before she did, but it was safer for everybody if he didn't know. Damn it. Even if she had told him, what would that have changed? He knew what her father was like, he should have understood her choice. The roiling, conflicting emotions within her froze as she realized something important. It didn't matter. Regardless of what or when she should have told him, the fact was that she had told him, and he had taken that information and sold her out. That was really all there was to it. Now the only question was whether or not she let him live.

"How much?" She asked quietly, dreading the answer that might come. "How much did my father pay you."

"A great deal." The bastard smirked when he said it, and that admission shattered her self-control. For just a moment the frozen storm thawed and her fury manifested itself in single trigger pull. The shot tore its way through her oldest friend's face and whatever excuse or justification he'd been planning to give her died with him. The corpse tumbled backwards to collide with the cargo crate behind it. Smoothly she shifted her muzzle to point at the mercenary captain.

The Asari glanced disdainfully at the almost headless body then smirked at her. "Yeah, he probably deserved that. Now, if you don't mind, I have a shipment to deliver."

"Try it and die." Miranda's tone was so cold that the words should have left vapor trails and the captain flinched involuntarily. For half a moment there was fear in her eyes, then she recovered herself and her smirk became a sneer.

"Big words for a jumped up Cerberus slut. My men are ready to…"

She didn't get to finish the threat. Miranda's biotic lift wrenched the captain off her feet. She rose to float a few meters off the ground hovered there writhing in place. If she gave her time, she was sure the captain would be able to break out with her own biotics, but Miranda didn't give her the chance. Instead, she let the tempest of betrayal roiling within her infuse her will and she slammed the Asari with another biotic strike. The mercenary leader was jolted even higher, then the strike detonated and she slammed back into the heavy metal of the dock at an incredible speed. The collision was, messy. Miranda looked dispassionately at the shattered body for a moment then reached up to key her earbud.

"Your captain is dead," she said over the hijacked frequency. "Leave. Now."

Without waiting for a reply she started walking towards the elevator to the surface. Ahead of her the remaining mercenaries exchanged glances, then threw down their weapons and fled. She let them run, they weren't worth her time. The elevator opened as she neared it and she stepped silently into it. Shepard and Jacob followed her a moment later. Neither said anything as the car began to rise, letting her process it herself. Anger still roiled in her guts and the fingers on her gun's grip popped as she clenched them. She looked down at them in surprise and the anger soured into revolution. She'd just killed her oldest friend. Gunned him down like that piece of trash Wilson. Disgusted, she tossed the weapon aside. There might be more Eclipse waiting, but she would never use that weapon again.

"What next?" Shepard's voice cut through the storm and the question gave her something to latch onto. She centered herself, forcing order on her chaotic thoughts. Next. Focus on what was next.

"We make sure Oriana gets to her shuttle. And we kill anybody who gets in our way."

"Do you want to talk about-"

"No!" she cut Jacob off. "Not right now. I can deal with this later but right now we need to make sure that Oriana is safe."

They rode the rest of the way in silence. When the doors opened they fanned out through the loading area in a classic sweep and clear. They needn't have bothered. The room was empty, as was the next one and the one after that. Apparently Eclipse had taken her warning seriously and called off their remaining men. That, or they'd figured the cost wasn't worth the payout at this point and stopped throwing good soldiers after bad. Whatever their reasoning she didn't particularly care if it meant that Oriana was finally safe. She put away her pistol as the final door cycled open and they walked out onto one of Nos Astra's passenger docks. Crowds of people milled about, and here and there she could see the distinctive pattern of a security guard uniform. One group in particular grabbed at her attention. A raven haired young woman stood with her back to them, appearing to be deep in conversation with an older couple. The young woman turned to look at something on a billboard, presenting her face in profile. Despite the years it had been since she had seen that face in person she knew it instantly, and Miranda felt the tension in her back drain away. Oriana was safe. The storm inside her slowed its frantic churning, and she let out a relieved sigh.

"You going to go over to her?"

Shepard's question took her by surprise. Of course she wasn't going to go over there. Oriana had no idea who she was, and it was safer for her if it stayed that way. She turned to face Shepard, not bothering to hide how sad that fact made her.

"No. She has a family. It's better if she doesn't know who I am." She thought about Niket, bitterness creeping into her voice. "Or what I am."

"That's bullshit." His tone wasn't harsh but it was resolute. "She deserves to know that she has a sister who loves her. And you deserve the chance to know the sister you sacrificed so much for."

"He is right, Miranda." Jacob chimed in. "You helped me resolve things with my family. Now it's my turn to help you. Go talk to her."

She looked back and forth between them, then turned to look back at Oriana. The younger woman had turned away again and she noted with surprise that her sister wore her hair the same way she did. It was a stupid, trivial thing to notice but it broke something inside her. She realized suddenly that they were right, she needed to talk to Oriana, to explain things, maybe not everything but at least some of it. She looked back at Shepard and Jacob and they both gave her encouraging smiles. These two had both risked their lives for her and her family, and she knew with certainty that this was debt she could never repay.

"Go." Shepard said. "We'll wait here."

Miranda still wasn't sure she was ready to trust Shepard, but at that moment she didn't care. She nodded to him, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Then, with a brisk purposeful stride she started walking towards one of the most difficult and important conversations she would ever have; and as she walked she looked back over her shoulder at Shepard, realizing that it was probably just the first of two for the day.

The doors slid apart and I stepped into the executive officer's suite. Miranda sat behind her desk, she looked up as I entered the room, and a mix of emotions I couldn't quite make out crossed her face. Whatever they were she got ahold of herself quickly, hiding whatever it had been behind her usual professional mask. She leaned forward a bit, resting her elbows on the desk, and I took the opportunity to admire the view down her jumpsuit.

"Thanks again, Shepard. Taking the time to help me with my sister…" Her voice trailed off as a shadow crossed her face. She shook it off a moment later and continued as if nothing had happened. "Without your help I couldn't have made it in time."

"I am happy we were able to make it in time to do something. How are you doing?"I asked, leaning my shoulder against the bulkhead and crossing my arms.

She shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable. I let her be. It wouldn't mean the same thing if I pushed her into opening up, it had to be her choice. Her strong features shifted through several emotions, the only evidence of whatever struggle was happening inside her. Restlessly she shoved herself up out of her seat, crossing to sit in one of the reclining chairs set in front of the expansive viewport. For several seconds she just sat there facing away from me, looking at the stars beyond the window. When she spoke, she sounded unsure and more open than I had ever heard her before.

"I still can't quite believe what Niket did. He was one of my closest allies, with me even before I joined Cerberus." Her voice grew hard. "I'm glad the bastard's dead."

I left my position by the wall, moving to stand next to the window and looked out as well. I could see her face in the reflection and took note of the rage she was doing her best to hold in. It was a feeling that I understood. Trust was something sacred, and it shouldn't be given or discarded lightly. Niket had betrayed Miranda in a way no one else possibly could have. When I spoke, my contempt for the man was obvious.

"He knew what he was doing, and he got what he deserved." I let my voice soften. "I'm glad I was able to help you with this, Miranda."

She turned to face fully me then, hard eyes probing. "Are you really, Shepard?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Her voice took on a bit of a sardonic edge. "Oh, nothing." She moved her hand in a negligent tossing away gesture. "I just wasn't sure the great Commander Shepard would want to spend his time helping a Cerberus operative rescue her sister out of the goodness of his heart."

I smirked at that. "You're right actually. I wouldn't help a Cerberus operative mount any kind of operation without something in it for me." The mocking smile that had been working its way onto her lips abruptly froze. Her eyes flashed with suspicion but she didn't interrupt. "But I would do it for a member of my team."

The hardness in her expression remained for several seconds and I wondered if I'd been too honest. Then the ice melted a little and she gave me the hint of a smile. It wasn't a friendly or flirtatious smile, it held too much sadness and personal regret for that, but it was a smile. She slumped back into her seat.

"But am I a member of your team, Shepard?" The naked honesty in that question surprised both of us I think. We had played the trust and verify game for so long that actually straight up asking that question was new territory for us. I certainly hadn't expected her to put it that bluntly; but she had, and now the question hung in the air between us.

A half dozen lies or platitudes flashed through my mind and I discarded all of them. Miranda was showing a lot of nerve asking the question, she deserved an honest answer. Besides I wasn't very likely to get another chance to to be this open with her. If I wanted her to join me, really give me her loyalty then this would be the best place to start.

"I would like you to be."

She nodded slightly in recognition of my words then turned to look out the window again. "I'm not sure it's that simple." There was an implied follow up to that and I forced myself to wait patiently for her to continue. "I resented and envied you, Shepard. The Illusive man was obsessed with you, even before you made Spectre. You were one of maybe three people he fixated on. After you stopped Saren and the Geth he fixated on you even more. He assigned your recruitment to me and it made sense. You were a big deal, hero of the Alliance, savior of the galaxy. Bringing you to our side made sense. And then you went and died. I expected to be reassigned after that but no, the Illusive Man had a way to bring you back. The whole time I spent watching over your resurrection I was thinking to myself: why go to all the effort to bring back one man? I spent days going over your records. I studied every detail of your fights, read every line of your psych evaluations, poured over any scrap of data I could get my hands in an effort to understand what made you, you."

She looked at me again. "And do you know what I found?" I shook my head, not totally sure where she was going with this or how to respond.

"I found nothing. Nothing to tell me what made you special. It was obvious that you were, anybody could see that. But there was nothing to indicate why… and so there I was, one of Cerberus's top operatives babysitting the corpse of a hero. The Illusive Man was pouring astronomical amounts of money into saving somebody who had actively derailed several operations and I had no idea why."

I started to say something but she held up a hand. "No. Let me get this out." I nodded and returned to leaning on the window frame.

She picked up the thread where she had left off. "But even if I didn't know why, I did know my duty. I had been instructed to bring you back, so that's what I did. Admittedly, it would have gone a bit smoother if that prick Wilson hadn't tried to kill you, but by god I did my bloody job. Then you were alive again, and given every resource Cerberus had to spare and then some, this ship, a crew, money. And me."

There was a slight hesitation when she mentioned herself and I got the distinct impression that there was more to that than she was letting on, for some reason though now didn't seem like the time to push it.

"Like I said," she continued. "I resented how many resources you were given without actually joining Cerberus. I told myself that there was no possible way you could live up to the expectations. Bloody hell! Nobody could live up to those expectations. I kept waiting for you to fuck up somehow. But you didn't. You kept overcoming every obstacle thrown up in your way, without really needing my help, and that made it even worse. Then Horizon happened. I am sure you remember our little - disagreement - about the tactics? Well, I was wrong, and I realized that as soon as I watched you in action. You're incredible, Shepard. I wouldn't have been able to drive off Collectors the way you did, and my resentment changed. Now I was jealous too. To make matters even more fun, with you alive again, my old mission was back too. In addition to supporting you against the Collector's I was - am - supposed to bring you into Cerberus."

Her face took on an interesting expression, somewhere between regret and resigned amusement. "But we both know that isn't going to happen, is it?"

I shook my head and gave her a sad little smile. "No, Miranda, it isn't."

She returned the smile regretfully. "And so I failed. Again. Would you mind if I asked you why, Shepard?"

It was my turn to pause. This was dangerous territory. I wanted Miranda, wanted her more than I was really comfortable with. As I'd observed many times before, she was a truly exceptional woman; brilliant, strong, resourceful, and absolutely stunning. But she was still Cerberus. Even if we were finally breaking down some of the walls we'd put up, I wasn't prepared to trust her just yet. Still, I didn't want to lie to her either. That meant that there was very narrow path I could walk. I choose my words carefully.

"I don't trust Cerberus. Too many of its operations are too shady, even for me. Experiments on the Rachni, Thorian Creepers," I raised my eyebrows, "Jack. The Illusive Man has given me a lot, it's true. But I never asked for any of it, Miranda. I appreciate what you did, but I still don't know why. That bothers me. I don't think I would ever be willing to join an organization like Cerberus, but I am willing to work with it." I softened my voice, turning to lock eyes with her. "With you."

Her eyes were a pair of beautiful blue ice chips; clear, deep, enchanting, and they gave nothing away. She held my gaze intently, as though she was trying to was trying to see through my eyes to the truth inside of me. I willed my sincerity to the surface, pleading silently for her to believe me. After seconds that seemed like hours she let out an explosive breath, shoving up out of the recliner. Brushing past me, she stalked over to her desk and rested both palms on it, looking away from me. She was obviously processing my words so I gave her time.

"If this is going to work," she sighed, still not looking at me, "Then we need to be honest with each other." She turned back to face me. "Niket was right about one thing, Shepard. I wasn't totally honest with him. It doesn't excuse what he did, but it does mean that I am somewhat responsible. I am not going to let that happen again. If I am going to do my job right, then I need to trust you, and you need to trust me." Those beautiful blue eyes flashed and she smiled fiercely. "Right here, right now, we come clean."

Oh… Fuck…

There had been several ways I thought she'd react, that had not been one of them. None of the arguments against telling her anything had changed. She was still the single largest security leak that I could possibly even consider bringing into my budding organization. There were literally dozens of reasons to lie to her, but one really good reason not to: she was right. If we were ever actually going to get over the mistrust between us, it would eventually mean being honest with her. If I lied to her now she'd find out about it later, and I got the feeling that would be bad. No, if I wanted Miranda, I would have to make the call now.

"Alright," I held up a finger. "one condition." That got me a raised eyebrow. I spun the finger in a small circle, indicating the whole room. "Cameras and recorders off. I will talk to you, Miranda, not Cerberus."

It was mostly a formality at this point. Our conversation up to now had given the Illusive Man more than enough reason to mistrust me, assuming he didn't already. Still, I was determined to make him work for anything else. She considered me silently, no doubt waging her own internal debate; then rounded her desk to the terminal. Her fingers were steady as she input commands. She had to bend over the desk to work, offering me an enticing view of her amazing figure and I had to wonder if it was a deliberate ploy, or simple expedience. Before I could make up my mind she straightened and turned to face me squarely.

"Done." She gave an akward smile. "Whatever we say now is between us."

Well that was that. I had no way of actually verifying that the surveillance devices were off, but I had to start trusting her at some point. If I didn't why the fuck was I still here. So I crossed my arms and leaned back against the window.

"Ok, would you like to ask the first question?"

That got a small smile out of her. "Sure. Let's start with something easy." Her smile turned fierce. "Are you still in contact with the Alliance?"

That almost made me laugh. "Not really. I met with both Anderson and Udina while we were on the Citadel. They made it clear that as long as I am with Cerberus, the Alliance will have nothing to do with me." I didn't tell her that Anderson had agreed to feed me any information that might come up on the Reapers. So far nothing had come of it and we hadn't spoken since.

Miranda grunted in disgust. "Is that why you don't trust us? Because you are still loyal them?"

I did laugh at that. The sound was sharp, more disdain than humor, and it broke the tension just a little bit. "Fuck no!" My expression grew serious again. "The Alliance failed me, Miranda. They ignored my warnings about the Reapers, disbanded my crew and tried to sweep me under the rug. So, no, my hesitance to join Cerberus has nothing to do with that deluded bunch of bureaucrats."

I could see that she wanted to ask more, but it was my turn for a question and I wanted to make sure I built the rhythm. "How did you get involved with Cerberus?"

"My father actually. He was a big time financier of a few of Cerberus's predecessor organizations. I met the Illusive Man when I was fifteen. He was introduced as one of my father's business friends. I must have impressed him though because later my father told me he'd help find me some of my main tutors. At this point I was finishing up my first couple of bachelor's degrees and my father was starting me in on helping him run some of his business assets. I put together enough information to figure out who and what Cerberus was and so, when I ran, I knew they'd have the resources to hide me." There was a touch of melancholy pride in her voice as she told the story.

"How did your father react to you joining them?"

"He actually didn't know for a while. One of my first assignments was actually helping to make sure his funds went where they would do the most good." She smiled in memory for a moment, then it faded. "Eventually one of his friends on the inside told him about me and his donations stopped. By then though I'd made my mark and the Illusive Man was fast tracking me through several intensive training programs. I even spent some time with the Alliance Special Forces."

That was interesting, if not particularly surprising. I'd already noted her high degree of skill and the Alliance Special Forces were certainly some of the best out there. They were also part of the Alliance military so it wasn't all that hard to believe that the Illusive Man could slip his own people in and out. For a few minutes we traded questions like that, getting to know one and other a little better. It was starting to get fairly routine when out of the blue she asked. "If you don't care about the Alliance, then why were you so upset when Chief Williams was almost taken on Horizon?"

How the hell did she know about that? I'd hidden my feelings until I was in my room. Did she have that bugged too? I mentally slapped myself. Of course she did. If she'd heard that, then what else had she heard? Hell, what had she seen? Everything. It would probably be best to assume she'd seen and heard everything. I was suddenly very glad that I'd made sure that all of my conversations with Garrus had occurred off ship. But if that was the case, she already knew why seeing Ashley had upset me. Was this a test to see if I changed my answer? I wouldn't, but now I watched her expression very carefully as I answered.

"I wasn't upset because Ashley was Alliance. I was upset because she was one of my people."

"You mean because you used to sleep together?" Miranda's tone wasn't exactly accusatory, but it did hold a hint of something that I couldn't quite place.

"No." She looked skeptical and I elaborated. "I wasn't upset because she was one of my lovers. I was upset because she'd given me her trust, and that trust had been damaged by somebody else in an effort to manipulate both of us. I confronted the Illusive Man about it, Miranda. He didn't even try to deny it! Ashley was on Horizon because he wanted to draw the Collector's attention to the planet. That is unacceptable to me. He used my people, somebody who had put their trust in me. She was put in danger because of me, without my permission or involvement. That's why I was upset!"

A possibility occurred to me, and before I'd really considered it I said it. "Fuck. If I didn't know that Niket wasn't Cerberus, I'd be willing to bet that the Illusive Man organized tonight's little outing too."

That hit her hard, and she rocked back a little. "Why?" She demanded, an icy chill in her tone. "He knows what Oriana means to me. What does he possibly gain from risking her like that?"

I hadn't really thought the idea through much, it had mostly just come to me; but as I considered it more pieces started to fall into place.

"Because," I said slowly, still feeling the idea out. "it led to us having this conversation."

That earned me another glare but I was on a roll now. "No, really. We both know that we weren't working very well as a team before tonight." She nodded reluctantly. "And you already admitted that part of your job was to bring me over to Cerberus's side. He has to have known how well that was going, and this mission was the perfect emotional catalyst to force you to trust me. Only problem is, Niket isn't Cerberus. The Illusive Man wouldn't have been able to order him to give up your sister's location, or even have known about him for that matter."

I could see her work through the logic chains I'd just followed, until she shook her head angrily. "Your right. Niket wasn't Cerberus. The Illusive Man would never do something like that to me."

It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than me but I held up my hands in surrender anyway. I'd planted the seed, no need to over sell it.

"You know him better than I do," I conceded. "And it is possible I am a bit paranoid where he is concerned."

She accepted the admission with a nod and for several seconds we sat in silence.

"Why don't you trust him?" Her question came out softer than I would have expected it to, a genuine question as opposed to an accusation. I arched an eyebrow at her and she continued. "I know you don't like him, and that he risked Williams, but he did it for good reasons. Don't forget Shepard, I've read your files. You would do exactly the same thing if you thought it was necessary."

"Not exactly," I said, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I'll risk my people, Miranda, but I won't lie to them about it, and I won't trick them into something just for some minor advantage. The Illusive Man and I share many qualities. Unlike him though, I do not discard or abuse my people."

"And what does that entail?" She asked. "Being one of _your_ people? What does that mean to you?" I thought I detected more than idle curiosity in her question. Anticipation maybe? Or excitement? She was doing a good job suppressing it, but it was there. I grinned internally.

"It means trust, Miranda. It means that you trust me, and I trust you. With that trust comes loyalty. As I think I might have said, I don't betray my people. They have my complete loyalty, and in return I expect the same." I could see the way my words affected her, and decided it was time to play my final card. "My mission is important Miranda, and I need your help with it. The Reapers are coming, and the galaxy is nowhere near ready to deal with them. It will take more than stopping the Collectors to fix that." I started walking towards where she sat at her desk as I spoke, stopping to lean on the edge less than a half meter away from her. "The Alliance can't do it. They're too mired in bureaucracy to get anything done, and the Council is even worse. Cerberus is helping, but they aren't enough. On top of that they are too focused on bettering Humanity. I have no issue with improving our species place in the galaxy, but it has to take a backseat to surviving."

"Then join us." She was almost pleading. "The Illusive Man agrees with you. Why else would he have spent so much time and money bringing you back?"

I shook my head sadly. "I can't, Miranda. The Illusive Man and I are too similar in too many ways, and too different in the ones that really matter. We would never be able to fully trust one another, and that would lead to problems. Why do you think he has this ship bugged so thoroughly?"

She didn't have an answer to that so I continued. "This arrangement works for now, and in the future we will see what happens. Who knows what might happen, but I know this now. I could certainly use you, Miranda. You are an incredible woman. One of the strongest, bravest, and most intelligent people I have ever known. I know you think that it's all because of your father's designs but you are wrong. There are plenty of people who are born with incredible gifts, it's what you do with those gifts that matter. You have made yourself into the person you are, and that's why I want you. Dark days are coming. I'll need your talents to help the galaxy survive them. Will you help me, Miranda?"

It was one of the most heartfelt and sincere pleas I had ever given, and I surprised myself with just how much I meant it. Miranda really would be an incredible asset in the organization that was taking form in my mind. On top of that, being this close to her and being this open was doing insane things to my sex drive. I could almost feel the touch of her skin on mine and it was almost all I could do not to lean over the desk and kiss her.

She averted her eyes from mine, looking down at her hands and shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Without looking at me she brushed past and rested her forehead against the window on the far wall. She stayed there for several seconds, looking out on the vastness of space. I let her work it out, knowing that this was a decision that I could not force if I wanted it to matter. Finally, she let out a sigh. Slowly, she turned back towards me, arms crossed under her breasts. Her customary confident expression had returned and her face gave me no indication of what she was thinking. It was clear she had made some kind of decision. I held my breath as I waited to hear what it was.

"If I do this Shepard, there are a few things you will have to understand." Her voice was steady, confident.

"Of course, tell me." I had to work to keep the anticipation and satisfaction out of my voice.

"I am willing to help you Shepard, but know this: I am my own person. You will have my loyalty, and I will do everything in my power to help you succeed, but I am not going to be your servant. If I ever get the feeling that you are lying to me, holding something back, or double crossing me it is over and I will do my very best to destroy you and everything you have built. I'll join you but on my terms. If you cannot accept that, then get the fuck out of my office."

"Miranda," I said with complete honesty, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Your greatest strength is your wealth of personal power; I would never want to diminish that. Or you. I truly appreciate your willingness to trust me, and I promise I will return that trust in kind."

She nodded her head decisively. "Alright. Then I'm in."

As she said the words her stony expression softened. The ice in her eyes melted into cool glacial pools and she favored me with a smile. It was possibly the first real smile I'd seen from her since we got back aboard and it sent a flush of anticipatory excitement to surge through me, a flush that settled in my crotch. I had to actively rein my libido in as I took a few steps towards her and held out my hand.

"It's good to have you with us, Ms. Lawson." The words were stupid, overly formal, and a little stilted, but I said them with a touch of self-mockery that made her smile widen.

She took my hand. Instead of shaking it though, she pulled on it dragging me closer, and taking a step to meet me. Her other arm snaked around my hip and her lips captured mine. It was such as unexpected response that for a few heartbeats I didn't react. Then my body bypassed my brain and I pressed up against her, hungrily returning the kiss. My free arm wrapped around her waist, holding her against me in case she suddenly changed her mind. For a second I thought she had because she broke the kiss and pulled back to look me in the eyes.

"You haven't had me yet, _Commander_." My title came out as a purr and those full lips curled up into a smirk that promised wicked and delightful things. We kissed again. She was a fucking amazing kisser. There was a quality of intention and intensity to the way she kissed that I'd never experienced before. Our tongues toyed with each other between slightly parted lips. She drew her hand down my spine, fingers sending tingles up and down it before grabbing my ass. I reciprocated by sliding my free hand along the small of her back and up, pulling her deeper into the kiss. A moan was smothered between our lips. The hand on my ass rose, tugging insistently at my shirt. We broke the kiss long enough for me to pull it off. As it came off she let out sound of hungry approval and pressed herself against me again. I moved with her, drawing us down onto the recliner she'd recently vacated.

This time it was my hands doing the exploring and I ran them over her back, her hips, her ass. I wanted to feel her, wanted to map every curve and bend in her incredible body. I'd admired her figure for so long that I wanted to know every inch of it right now. There was a problem though; hexagons of some kind of armor were muting my touch and I began to grow frustrated. I longed to press her warm naked skin against mine, feel every little bit of her body and this goddamn jumpsuit was getting in my fucking way.

Just when I was ready to start ripping holes in the fucking thing Miranda broke the kiss, leaning back away from me. She shifted her position until she was straddling me and gave me a wicked little smile. Laying one hand flat against my chest she began to move, grinding her hips in slow little circles. Her hips grinding against my cock was maddeningly arousing. Her eyes lit, her grin became a smile and she raised an eyebrow.

"Excited, Shepard?" She asked as she moved. She was mocking me, but I could hear her own need in the words.

"Yes." It was more a growl than a word, and that infuriatingly intoxicating smile only got wider.

"Mmm… I can tell." There was a hungry tone to her reply, but her hips kept up their slow grind. Without changing pace, she moved her free hand, bringing it to rest on her right breast. Slowly, never taking her eyes from mine, she started to unzipped her jumpsuit. The armored fabric fell away slowly, revealing hints of black lace beneath until finally the zipper reached her waist. With a fluid motion she shrugged, the remainder of her jumpsuit falling away. Underneath, an elegant black lace bra struggled to contain her magnificence. Enraptured, my hand on her hip started moving up to get a feel; and she slapped it down with an arch look.

"I told you Shepard. My terms." The rebuke was mild and she was grinning as she leaned down and kissed me. I smiled internally and let my hand to join the other on her hip. Her breasts were a delightful pressure on my chest, separated from my skin by a thin layer of fabric and lace. For a while we stayed like that, just kissing and grinding. Eventually she broke the kiss and her hips stopped moving. Before I could protest though she started to move again, sliding down my body until her she was sitting at the foot of the chair. Her hands worked as she moved and she tugged my pants down just as her face came level with my cock. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up at me and planted a delicate kiss on the tip. "Ready?"

My voice abandoned me, and I simply nodded.

Her eyes flashed with pleasure at my reaction, then she took me into her mouth. I lost track of whatever response I'd been preparing. She started slow, mouth moving barely past the head as her hand caressed the shaft. After a moment she started taking more, moving deliberately. Her hand and mouth worked in a steady cadence, fingers hovering millimeters from her lips and moving together. The slow, steady pressure was as incredible as it was maddening. It was all I could do to restrain myself from thrusting deeper and couldn't stop a slight rolling motion of my hips. She took my movements in stride, incorporating them into her rhythm. As she moved deeper her hand moved from my shaft to my balls, rolling them gently between her fingers. Soon she was taking all of me and she began to pick up speed, her tempo set by the involuntary and insistent movements of my hips.

After what felt like only seconds she pulled up off me. Her lips were a little swollen and gleaming and the smile she gave me was absolutely sinful. With a final kiss on the tip she pushed herself away. Still moving deliberately, she began to strip away the rest of her jumpsuit. She put a foot on my chest and gave me a wink when I tried to sit up and help. Every movement, every zipper and buckle undone was like a little show and my already rock hard dick started to get painfully erect. Finally, there was only one buckle left and she stopped. Still wearing that seductive little smile, she slid one arm behind herself and unhooked her bra. She held her other arm across her chest keeping it from falling as she pulled her arms out. Then with a little flourish she released the final clasp on her jumpsuit and let both it and the bra fall to the floor. Miranda Lawson, director of Project Lazarus, top tier agent of Cerberus stood before me naked, and the first thing that I thought was: _Finally_!

Full round breasts swayed seductively as she shifted her weight to better display herself. Her stomach was toned, and smooth, and I hungrily anticipated the way it would feel against my own skin. Long, exquisitely muscled legs ended in wide full hips that even that tight ass jumpsuit hadn't done justice. She apparently waxed because her pussy was smooth and I desperately wanted to burry my face against it and taste her. Miranda stood there, smirking, knowing the effect her body was having on me for almost five seconds. Then she stalked forward, hips swaying, until she was once against straddling me. This time I didn't even try to rise to meet her.

She put one hand lightly on my chest, fingers tracing over a scar from the one of the surgeries that put me back together, and her eyes smoldered as she lowered herself onto me. Her free hand slid behind herself to guide me inside her. The expectant silence that had filled the room was broken by simultaneous gasps as my cock slid effortlessly into her slick pussy.

Her hips stopped with barely an inch inside, then reversed, pulling back off of me until just the very tip was inside. I gave her quizzical look, wondering if she'd changed her mind or something, but she only continued to smirk. She started again, only to stop and pull back maddeningly early. I got it then. She was using my own fucking trick on me. She was doing to me exactly what I'd done to Jack that first time. Was she doing it intentionally? Was this her way of telling me that she knew all about that? Or was it just that she and I had similar techniques? She slid down again, this time just a little deeper, and I abruptly decided that it didn't matter. Who cared what she did or didn't know; what mattered right now was that she was trying to prove that she was in charge here. That was fine, I knew how this game worked too. If she wanted to tease and see who broke first, then the least I could do was make it a challenge.

So, as her pussy teased my cock, I started to run my hands over her body. There was no jumpsuit to get in my way this time and I let my fingers play lightly along her breasts and back. She didn't try to stop me this time, she was too focused on controlling her hip movements. Keeping my touch light, I moved further down her back. I had to actively stop myself from grabbing a handful of her ass when I got to it, and the struggle to refrain from pushing her all the way down on my dick was one of the hardest things I'd ever done, but I was determined not to let her win. My teasing was doing something too, because as my fingers danced over her lower hips I saw her eyelids flutter.

I tightened the fingers of one hand into claws, racking them back over her ass. At the same time, I used my hand on her back to pull her down to me, capturing her mouth in another kiss. I'd miscalculated though. The warmth of her naked skin pressed against me, the taste of her lips, still flushed and swollen from sucking my cock, and the feel of that amazing ass in my hand pushed me over the edge. I suddenly didn't care if she came out of this thinking she'd won. I needed to fuck Miranda and I needed it right now.

On her next stroke, I thrust hard against her, burying my cock to the hilt in her wet pussy. She must have been just at the edge too, because a moan that I felt more than heard rushed into my mouth and she melted against me. Our kiss grew even more passionate, tongues twisting together, and I swore I felt her nipples grow hard against me. That was more like it!

With no further encouragement from me she picked up the pace. She still didn't go straight for an overly aggressive fuck, instead opting for a slower pattern that let both of us savor the feeling of her tight walls wrapping hungrily around my cock. Miranda broke the kiss by leaning back, settling her weight more fully on my lap, which coincidently let my dick go just little bit deeper. We locked eyes as she road me in slow, sensuous pleasure; and the naked need in her eyes was a mirror to my own. I moved my hands to hips while she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her hips started a counterclockwise rotation that coaxed another moan out of me.

Pleasure built as the waves of sensation from my cock grew in intensity. Each rotation and thrust was exquisite, a luxuriously erotic pressure that was enticing an orgasm out of me faster than I'd anticipated. I slid my hands further down her hips and over her flawless ass cheeks, positioning them so I could add my own thrusts to her rhythm. The additional motion caused her gorgeous breasts to bounce against my chest.

"I'm about to…" I moaned, voice rough.

"Do it, Shepard!" Her sultry voice almost dripped need. She leaned even further back, hips grinding harder and faster.

That did it. A climax built of weeks of flirtatious mistrust, of frustrated desire, of covert glances, and of lust finally consummated, hammered its way through me. I shuddered and quivered, straining muscles clutching her hips against mine as my throbbing cock shot cum deep inside her pussy. That drove her over the edge, and her answering orgasm was as intense as mine. She collapsed onto me, body spasming and pussy contracting ferociously.

For several seconds, we both just lay there, panting. That had been one of the strongest orgasms I'd ever experienced, and I needed a moment or three to recover from it. I had just enough control of my body to wrap my arms around Miranda, holding her against me.

"Fuck…" I breathed between pants.

"Bloody hell…" She agreed, voice hoarse.

We lay there a couple of seconds longer, then she pushed away from me. Moving a little gingerly, she pulled off me. I watched a thin rivulet of cum slide down her leg as she stood. The sight sent a renewed jolt of desire through me, and my cock tingled as it tried to harden again. Her first couple of steps were unsteady, but she recovered quickly. I rose on one elbow to watch as she half walked, half swayed towards the back half of the suite, the bedroom portion of it. Pausing, she rested one hand on the bulkhead and half turned to look back over her shoulder at me, one perfect eyebrow raised.

"You coming?"

I shoved myself out of the recliner, and swaying a little myself, followed her to her bed.


	11. Chapter 10

Miranda rubbed her eyes, leaning back away from her computer monitor to give them a slight rest. As it seemed to do every time she wasn't thinking about something else, her mind replayed that night with Shepard. Even two days later, and she was still going over everything they'd said to each other; and everything they'd done. She still didn't know where this new relationship of theirs would take them, but the doubt and confusion she'd been laboring under was gone. In its place was a steely resolve. They'd both said a lot of things that night, revealed a lot of truths about themselves to one and other, and Miranda didn't regret it in the slightest. Many of her concerns about Shepard had been resolved. She no longer wondered if he would betray Cerberus, she knew that he would. His assessment of his ability to work with The Illusive Man had been too accurate, and despite what he said, she knew it would eventually come down to a conflict. She'd made the snap decision to be inside Shepard's circle of trust sooner rather than later. And, she had to admit, it wasn't like the price of admission was unpleasant. Quite the opposite really.

A wave of residual pleasure rolled through her as she remembered that night, and the morning after, and last night. Shepard was unlike any other partner she'd ever had. Prior to this sex had always been a means to an end: either scratching a personal itch, or a few times as a junior agent, completing a mission for Cerberus. Admittedly, she was doing the same here, but now… now it was different. He wasn't the most skilled partner she'd had, or the most energetic, but there was just so much passion in Shepard's actions. She'd never had sex with this level of raw emotion . Miranda knew she was an excellent lover, Cerberus had paid to make sure of that, but everything she knew was technical. She'd only ever faked the emotional aspects, along with most of her orgasms. Now though? There'd been no faking with Shepard, not on either front. Each kiss, each caress, each thrust was reinforced with an underlying intensity that was impossible to ignore. Shepard's emotions were an inferno that fueled everything he did, and they'd ignited a similar fire within her. It was all she could do not to give into that fire even now, sitting alone in her office. She now understood exactly what it was that drew people to the man. Even without the physical connection of sex, Shepard's passion was undeniable. She suspected he'd been intentionally hiding it during their previous conversations, but it he hadn't tried that night. It had been his… sincerity… which had broken through to both parts of her, the spy and the woman. The woman had been intrigued and attracted to that passion, and the spy had known the danger it represented. Both sides were now thoroughly satisfied with her choice.

Between orgasms she'd managed to tease only a little more information out of him. He'd been more focused on the, um, physical aspects of their new relationship than the planning side, but that was ok. There would be plenty of time for her to gather the information she'd need, and in the meantime she had every intention of enjoying herself. What she did glean had given her hope. She believed Shepard when he said he was willing to work with Cerberus to take down the Collectors. He wasn't in a position to deal with them by himself, and he knew it. She knew he was taking steps to change that, but he wasn't there yet. For the moment, Cerberus was his best asset, and she'd gotten to know him well enough to know that he wouldn't toss them away without good reason. When he did eventually split off on his own, would the The Illusive Man want him killed, or for her to remain with Shepard as an inside source? Miranda didn't know. It would probably depend on the situation. Until then, she'd do everything in her power to stay as close to Shepard as she could. Which meant she had some decisions to make.

Miranda switched from rubbing her eyes to pinching the bridge of her nose, doing her best to pre-empt the headache this train of thought always brought with it. It didn't help much. The problem was T'Soni and Jack. She'd almost thrown them in his face that first night, but she hadn't. Instead she'd waited for him to bring them up, and to her surprise he had. He'd waited till the morning after, sure, but he'd explained himself to her. He knew she knew about Jack, and wanted to make things clear between them. He took multiple lovers; it was who he was. His lovers were his confidants, his closest allies, and his most trusted advisors. They also weren't restricted to sleeping with just him, though if they found somebody else they were supposed to tell him, and vice versa. Then he'd gotten very quiet for a moment, before solemnly asking her if she was willing to accept that. It'd been a surreal moment, and coming from anybody else she'd have laughed in their face, but again that passion and sincerity had suffused every word. Though even with that, she'd been conflicted. Miranda was not a woman accustomed to sharing, especially not with something like this. In the end, it'd been her mission that pushed her into accepting it. The resulting sex hadn't hurt either.

Now though? Now she had to decide exactly what she was going to do about those two. She told herself that she didn't care how Shepard got off. She told herself that very sternly, and repeatedly. What she did care about however, was if Shepard was using them as confidants instead of her. That was a problem. If he was going to them with problems, plans or ideas before talking to her, then she wasn't getting the inside track she could be getting, and they might change his mind before she got the chance to. So, Miranda just had to figure out how to make sure that she was his first choice, or, if failing that, then that she was around him when he was with them. The possibilities of what that could mean played out in her mind, and to her own surprise, she found herself comfortable with them. T'Soni wouldn't be a problem; one of her tutors in seduction had been an acolyte of Sha'ira so Miranda was more than familiar with the Asari body. Jack, though... She'd have expected the idea of sleeping with Jack to be a turn-off, but it wasn't. Instead, it was strangely exciting. Jack had gotten to Shepard before her, and Miranda was eager to prove to both herself and Shepard that that had been a mistake. It was a part of her fiercely competitive nature that that had originally alienated her from Shepard; but now that she'd let herself admit she enjoyed sleeping with Shepard, that competitiveness had refocused itself. Miranda wasn't particularly proud of that part of herself, but she was honest enough to admit its existence.

Fortunately, there was one other approach she could take before resorting to that, which was to make herself as useful as possible to Shepard. With that in mind, and her eyes having recovered a bit from the hours she'd already spent on this project, she turned her focus back to her console. She'd already gone through basically every scrap of data that Cerberus or the Alliance had on the topic, and now it was time to start looking for outside sources. She brought up the planetary Extranet. A quick search uncovered three databases that might have information and she tasked EDI with cracking their security. Content that the AI was working on that, Miranda reached out and tapped a combination into her desk comm. She had to wait through two repetitions of a strand of classical Asari orchestral music before the other end clicked. "Shepard," a low, sultry voice purred, "what did you forget?"

Miranda kept her own voice professional, refusing to reveal the flash of frustration the words had elicited. "Dr. T'Soni, this is Miranda Lawson. Do you have a moment?"

T'Soni recovered smoothly, tone shifting from sensual to professional with casual ease. "Ah, Ms. Lawson. That would depend on what you need that moment for." It may have been her imagination, but it had sounded like the Asari's tone took that sultry edge on the last few words.

"I am putting together a file for the Commander, and I believe you might have information I could use." She ignored the potential tone shift and tapped a few keys on her terminal. "I just sent you the list."

"If it's for Shepard, I think I can carve out a few minutes." The other woman was quiet for several seconds as she reviewed the list. "I'm surprised you're asking me for this. Is there something wrong with Cerberus' files?"

"Our files are top notch, Doctor, but I like to be thorough."

"Liara, please. And may I call you Miranda? It will make things easier in the long run, don't you think?"

Miranda frowned, there had definitely been something in her tone that time, but it had been too quick for her to identify what. "In the long run?" She probed.

"Yes. Shepard told me you are hunting the Collectors. There is no way of knowing how long that could take, and it's likely that you and I will be seeing a lot of each other. First names seem more pleasant than Ms. Lawson, and Dr. T'Soni, less formal; more… intimate."

And Miranda got it. A competitive little smirk spread her lips, and her tone grew honey sweet. "I'm glad you brought that up, actually. Shepard's indicated that he'd like me to start tapping you as a greater resource. I take it from the fact that my call bypassed your secretary that he's said the same to you?"

"Mmhm. As a matter of fact, all calls from the Normandy go straight to my personal line, so, you can reach me anytime, day or night."

"That's rather generous, Liara, especially given how busy I know you are. I'm sure the Commander appreciates your… dedication…"

"Oh, you know how he is. He's expressed his gratitude quite thoroughly."

The other woman didn't even try to hide the contentment in her voice, and Miranda grew abruptly tired of the game. "I'm sure he has. I appreciate your assistance, Liara, but I'm afraid I should return to this project. When can I expect your information?"

"Ah, very well. I'll have it for you in an hour or two. One more thing before you go, Miranda. The commander asked that I look into something for him, do you know when he'll be back aboard?"

She'd never told the Asari the commander was off the ship, but, if he'd been visiting her, she already knew that he was, and likely knew his schedule as well as Miranda did. That meant that T'Soni was testing her, probably trying figure out if she'd lie to her. For a second she considered doing just that, but that was the reaction of an insecure person, and Miranda was determined to be the one in control here.

"Shepard is planning on intercepting Krios tonight. I expect he'll be back aboard fairly late."

She must have passed the test, because T'Soni's tone grew noticeably lighter. "That's right. I'd forgotten. Thank you, Miranda. Would you mind if I sent you the file, and you can give it to him once he's back?"

"I'd be happy to."

"Thank you. He made it seem like this was time sensitive, and I'd rather not leave it sitting in his inbox."

"I understand, and I'll make sure he gets it as soon as he's aboard."

"Thank you again. I'm glad we got this chance to talk, Miranda. Shepard's mission is important, and I'm glad to know he has someone with your loyalty and intelligence helping him, I know he'll need it. I'll get you that information shortly."

With that she signed off, leaving Miranda to decipher that last part on her own. The whole conversation had been rife with subtext and she took a moment to put it all together. T'Soni knew about her and Shepard, she was confident of that. Presumably Shepard had told her. It would be in keeping with the rules he'd laid down anyway. So, if she knew that Miranda and Shepard were sleeping together, than that last comment could only have been a threat. If Miranda betrayed Shepard, T'Soni would come for her. Well, let her. Miranda had seen the combat logs from her time with Shepard, and the read the file Cerberus's Illium cell had been keeping on her since then. T'Soni might be a powerful biotic, but she was an information specialist first. She could take her if it came to that.

A beep from her console caught her attention, and she looked at the new mail icon. It was probably that file T'Soni had said she'd send. Miranda smiled. If Shepard wanted this information ASAP, then she wanted to know what it was first. She opened the file, expecting to have to fight through some level of encryption, she was not disappointed. She was surprised however, when she finally did manage to crack the password, to find that it was her own birthday. Intrigued, and more than a little suspicious, she ran an isolation program on the file to wall it off from the rest of theNormandy' s systems. If anything tried to breach that wall EDI would notice and obliterate it. The program also had the convenient side effect of making the file invisible to anybody else in the system. Confident in her precautions she opened it. The file contained a only single folder titled:Just In Case . Inside that folder were four rather large, complex files and a text file. She opened the first of the large files, and her eyes widened as she realized what she was looking at. It was a standard Alliance personal information document, the kind every Alliance citizen had, but the face smiling at her from the display was Oriana. With mounting panic, Miranda opened each of the other files, confirming her fears. Each of Oriana's adopted family was there. Fear turned to anger and she was about to close the files and go kill T'Soni when something caught her eye. The names on the files were wrong. She'd thought these were the identities she'd crafted using the system Shepard had taken from Harkin, but they weren't. Each of them were brand new, expertly crafted fake identities. Frowning, she opened the text file.

" Miranda, I noticed something happened at the docks a few days ago. These are for you if you ever need them. Loyalty begets loyalty. Thank you for saving Shepard."

Fear alloyed itself with her anger and congealed into a roiling ball of confusion in the pit of her stomach. The message might not have been meant as a threat, but she was having a hard time taking it as anything else. T'Soni knew about Oriana, even if it was just tangentially, and that made her a potential threat. Secrecy had always been her sister's best defense, and the more people who knew a secret, the less secure it was. At the same time, it was possible that she was reading more into this than T'Soni—no, Liara—had intended. The Asari really could have meant it to be helpful. Miranda replayed the conversation. It was possible she'd misread Liara's motivations. Maybe she wasn't thinking like a spy, but like somebody trying to feel out a new ally. If Shepard had convinced her of Miranda's loyalty, this could be nothing more than an attempt to be helpful. It made sense even. If Liara assumed Miranda had switched sides, there would be the risk of Cerberus finding out about her defection. When that happened, it was easy to assume they'd come after Oriana, so, even if Liara didn't know why she was important, it was in keeping with her character for her to have given Miranda a way of getting her sister away from Cerberus. The more she thought about it in fact, the more likely that scenario sounded. All of Cerberus's intelligence suggest that Liara was Shepard's closest ally, and most fervent supporter. It was a smart move to eliminate a potential lever an opponent could turn.

Miranda let out an exasperated sigh. She'd spent so long thinking like a covert operative that it was impossible for her to take anything at face value anymore. Usually that was a useful asset, but sometimes it led her in circles. The important points of this message were that Liara knew about Oriana, and Miranda now had a backup set of covert identities if she needed them. She'd keep an eye on Liara; eventually the other woman would make her intentions known, and she'd react as necessary. For now, there was work to do. Another file had come in from Liara, this one considerably larger and containing the information she'd had asked for. With an effort Miranda put aside thoughts of intrigue, and got to work assembling the briefing Shepard had requested. She'd never get the chance to discover his ally's motivations if she didn't prove herself to be an asset after all.

* * *

"So, Tali looked a little upset when I asked you to back me up on this one." I waggled my eyebrows at Garrus. "Any particular reason for that?"

He didn't look at me, eyes focused ahead of us as his rifle tracked back and forth. That didn't stop him letting out an embarrassed little cough though. "We, uh, had dinner reservations."

I laughed, and shifted my own attention back ahead of me. "Why didn't you say something?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw him roll a shoulder in a little shrug.

"Mission comes first. Besides, you'd probably get yourself killed without me." As if to punctuate his words yellow armored soldiers swung out from their concealment and opened up on us. My shields took several hits before I was able to duck behind a landed cargo vehicle. Garrus slammed down beside me. He shot me a speaking look, smirking as if to say: told you so .

I rolled my eyes. "This doesn't prove anything." I risked a quick peek around the edge of the cargo bed, and tried to get a count of the mercenaries. Immediately rounds started to chew splinters out of my cover, a couple bouncing off my weakened shields. I pulled my head back. I'd seen what I needed. Taking a moment to let my shields replenish themselves, I swapped from disrupter to incendiary ammo. "Can I take it things are going well? Or did you agree to come with me because you wanted to get out of the date?" I wasn't going to let little distraction like getting shot at get in the way of the important stuff.

Garrus leaned out from behind his own cover, sending a quick burst down range before ducking back and giving me an exasperated look. "They're going fine, thank you."

I beamed back at him. "Glad to hear it! I'd hate to think something was wrong. So, have you fucked yet?"

The thermal clip he'd been in the process of loading slipped out of his fingers and bounced away. He glared at me. "This hardly seems like the time to be discussing this, Shepard."

"So thats a no then." As he sputtered I swung up, accepted a few hits to the shields as I lined up my shot, then squeezed the trigger. The Mattock bucked—this rifle kicked like a bitch - but I'd braced for it and all three shots found their target. The fuel tank in the middle of the Eclipse position sparked as the incendiary rounds tore into, then exploded with a satisfyingly violent ' whoomp!' . The mercenaries who'd been using that truck for cover staggered back, armor alight, and the LOKI mechs they'd sent advancing ahead of them clattering to the ground under the shockwave.

Outlined in fire they became perfect targets, and I took ruthless advantage of it. Garrus had gotten his rifle reloaded and the higher pitch whine of his Vindicator joined the heavy cracks of my rifle. "Have you told Jack you're sleeping with Miranda?"

It was my turn to fumble, and my third shot went wide, letting the mercenary I'd been aiming at slip behind a stack of wall panels somebody had left out for the next day's work crew. I reigned in the urge to swear under my breath, and refocused on my rifle. "Who says I'm sleeping with Miranda?"

I could hear the bastard's smirk. "I'm not an idiot, Shepard. I know you think you're being discreet, but I know you. So, have you told her?"

The remaining Eclipse had managed to shake off the distraction, and their return fire forced us back behind cover. I used the respite to glare at Garrus. He weathered my glare admirably, and sneered back at me as he reloaded. After a few ineffectual moments I gave up. "Fine. No, I haven't told Jack yet."

He nodded sympathetically. "I kinda figured, seeing how we still have a ship. Could you be a pal and give me a warning before you do? Tali and I want to be on the other side of the planet when she finds out."

"Wait? Tali knows too? No, don't answer that. If you know, she knows. Who else?"

He shrugged. "I don't think anybody else has put it together yet. Does this mean she's on our team now?"

I thought back to that morning, the memory bringing a leer with it. "Yeah, I think you could say that."

Garrus rolled his eyes. "Great. Just remember, I get a heads up before you tell her, preferably with enough lead time for me to get to a bunker."

"Look, just because…" A blue light streaked over our heads, interrupting my devastatingly clever reply, and the suppressive fire abruptly stopped. We exchanged glances then, in unison, peeked up over the cargo bed. The remaining Eclipse goons floated several meters off the ground, drifting in lazy orbits around a pulsing indigo sphere. As we watched, Samara stalked sedately past us, assault rifle at her shoulder, calmly putting controlled bursts into the heads of each. The mechs that had been thrown to the ground in the explosion had regained their feet, and the barrels of their submachine guns shifted to track Samara. She gestured contemptuously at them, azure energy lifting both off the ground, then thrust her hand out. Light streaked from her outspread fingers and the LOKIs were hurled backwards, even as conflicting biotic energies clashed and detonated in midnight fireworks. Bodies and scrap metal fell back to the ground and Samara turned to look at us.

"I believe we are on something of a deadline. Perhaps the discussion of your love lives should be put on hold for the time being?" Her tone held no particular emotion, but I was pretty sure I saw one corner of her mouth tick up. More importantly, she had a point. If we didn't reach our destination before our target made his move, then this whole mission would be a bust. I inclined my head in acknowledgement of her point, and looked at Garrus.

"Later?"

His face split into fighting grin. "Fewest kills buys the first round?"

I loaded a fresh thermal clip. "You're on."

Up ahead of us a bridge connected the half finished building we were on with the tower where our target's office was. It was long, narrow, had no safety rails, and the wind at this height was strong enough to knock an unprepared person off their feet. Oh, and it ended in a perfect fighting position. If we'd come here a few weeks from now, or hell, maybe even a few days, that bridge would be a death trap. We'd have had to cross almost fifty meters of open ground, fighting against the wind, and assault an entrenched position. Fortunately for us, it wasn't a few weeks from now, and construction material littered the bridge, giving us plenty of cover for our advance. That didn't mean the crossing was easy, but it wasn't suicide either.

Eclipse knew that too, and they'd prepared an impressive layered defense: rifles and rocket drones on the far end to provide a base of fire, with LOKIs and Asari Vanguards on the bridge itself to serve as a blocking force. It was a solid strategy, and against another group of hired guns it probably would have worked. But they weren't up against another group of hired guns. Garrus and his sniper rifle were more than a match for their base of fire. Deprived of that, the blocking force didn't stand a chance. Samara and I hit them hard and fast. I'd swapped to my Tempest, and the squat little submachine gun ripped through shields and barriers with almost gleeful abandon. As soon as I rendered a target vulnerable, Samara would smash them with her biotics. She didn't bother with fancy combos or intricate takedowns either, she just threw them off the side of the bridge. I felt a minor twinge of pity for whatever poor asshole got assigned the clean up duty down on the street. Our assault wasn't pretty, but it was effective. In less than two minutes we'd crossed the bridge and fought our way up to the landing outside our target door. Samara and I took a second to catch our breath and reload while we waited for Garrus to jog across to us, then as a trio we triggered the door and stepped into Nassana Dantius's office.

Dantius had her back to us, looking out the picture windows at the rising sun, its light silhouetting her and her three remaining bodyguards. All three had their weapons drawn and pointed at us, but they hesitated. Maybe they were under orders not to fire unless ordered, or maybe they'd realized I'd just fought my way through a legion of their fellows and they weren't particularly interested in joining them. Either way, it meant they weren't about to shoot, so I dismissed them to background details. Dantius continued to face away from us for a few more seconds, clearly trying to show us just how un-worried she was. The effect was kinda ruined when she did turn to look though.

"Shepard?" She sputtered. "But... You're dead."

I gave her a friendly smile, one that showed plenty of teeth. "I got better."

"And now you're here to kill me." She spat derisively.

I leaned back, crossed my arms, and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Is that what you think?"

"Don't patronize me, Shepard." This time she wasn't able to hide the tension in her voice, and tried to mask it by turning away with a dismissive gesture. "I'm sure you find this all very ironic. First you take care of my sister, and now you're here for me. Well, you've made it this far. Now what?"

"Do you really think I'm here to kill you?"

That made her whirl back to me. "Do you have another reason for destroying my tower and decimating my security?" She spat, her confident mask slipping for a moment.

I was pretty sure I'd more than decimated her goons, but now probably wasn't the time to argue semantics. "I'm looking for somebody."

"Do you expect me to believe that?" She demanded, lips curling in a contemptuous little sneer. "Is it credits you want? Just tell me your price and we can make this problem go away."

A slight noise from above me caught my attention, and I had to force myself not to look up. It seemed like my target was here after all. "All the credits in the world can't make this problem go away, Nassana." I injected just a little bit of scolding into my tone, the way you do with a petulant child.

"Sanctimonious prick." She snarrled. "Who the hell gave you the right to play god? I may not be perfect, but look at you. We both kill people for money. What's the difference?"

I bristled a little at that. Who did she think she was comparing herself to me? Sure, I killed people, but only when there wasn't a better option. She'd tricked me into killing her sister just so she could seize more power in her company. I didn't do what I had to to do for personal power, I did it because it was necessary. I didn't need to explain myself to this bitch. I sneered at her. "You're pathetic."

"Look you sonofabitch-" A sound off to one side cut off her feeble retort, and she flinched away from it. She tried to cover her movement by turning to one of her bodyguards. "Go check the other entrances." She looked back at me. "Don't move."

"Nassana." I drawled. "I already told you. I'm not here to kill you."

Her eyes widened as she caught the emphasis, just as a figure dropped from the shadows overhead. They landed in complete silence behind Nassana's bodyguards. Hands wrapped around the first man's head, snapping his neck before anybody even knew he was there. The second guard started to swing his rifle towards the attacker, only to crumple to the ground when the assassin's fist smashed his windpipe. The third guard was on the far side of Nassana and actually got her weapon up before the assassin's shot took her between the eyes. Nassana whirled on her attacker, a concealed pistol appearing in her hand faster than I'd have believed she was capable. It wasn't fast enough. The assassin spun into her, one hand battering her gun aside, the other pressing the muzzle of his own pistol into her belly. She looked down at the weapon, and then up into the pitch black eyes of her killer. She started to say something, but the muted whine of the pistol interrupted her. The assassin caught her body as it slumped back, guiding it into a semblance of peaceful rest on the desk top. He folder her arms on her chest then stepped back to observe his handiwork. A flicker of an emotion crossed his face so quickly I wasn't able to decipher it, then he bowed his head, clasping his hands in front of him. The whole thing had taken maybe 15 seconds.

From beside me, Garrus let out a low whistle. "Impressive. You certainly know how to make an entrance."

The assassin ignored him, his attention obviously on his benediction. I took the opportunity to scrutinize him. The Cerberus dossier on Krios had been frustratingly light on specific details, basically just listing a series of top notch kills, and a general physical description that matched the drell in front of me. It hadn't however said anything about religion or spirituality, both of which were a surprising thing to find in a hired gun.

"Thane Krios?" I asked. It was a stupid question, but I needed to say something. "I was hoping to talk to you."

He didn't raise his head. "I apologize, but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

Great, he was a fanatic. "Do you really think she deserved it?"

This time he did look at me. "Not for her. For me."

Oh, even better: a self condemning fanatic. He'd apparently finished his prayers because he unclasped his hands, scooped up his pistol, and started to walk around the desk towards me. "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance. All this destruction… chaos. I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me." He stopped, standing directly between me and the corpse of Nassana Dantius. "Well… here I am."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How did you even know I was coming?"

He shrugged. "I didn't. Not until you martched in the front door and started shooting. Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her." From all the emotion in his voice you'd have thought we were discussing the weather. "You were a valuable distraction."

A surge of anger flared through me. Who the fuck did this asshole think I was? Using me a distraction? Letting my people take the brunt of the danger so he could what? Fulfill a contract? Collect some money for killing somebody? If he thought I was just going to take that lying down, he had another thing coming to him. I took a breath, forcing the anger back under control. It was the same strategy I'd have used in his place. It proved that Krios was a competent and methodical killer, just like his file said he would be. Moreover, it was exactly the kind of fighter I'd want on a mission like mine. I didn't need amateurs who let things like moral niceties get in the way of completing their mission. I forced the surge of anger down, mostly.

"I'm not accustomed to being used." It wasn't quite the growl it could have been, but hints of it were there.

He didn't bat an eye. "I needed a distraction; you needed to speak with me. You certainly fulfilled your end of the bargain. What would you like to discuss?"

On my way up the tower I'd debated how exactly I was going to go about this. I'd tossed around the idea of offering to hire him, or maybe to threaten him, or possibly even to try to charm him, but after meeting him, I tossed out all of those options. He was a man of principle, and so I'd apply principle to him.

"I need your help to save lives." That got a reaction. It was small, a slight furrowing of the brow, but it showed I'd gotten his attention. "Somebody's been abducting entire colonies. I want your help to stop them."

"Do you know who is behind the attacks?"

"We do: the Collectors." His eyes widened as I dropped that bomb. Obviously he'd heard of them. "We've interrupted one of their attempts already; and now I intend to take the fight to them."

His pseudo-reptilian features took on a calculating caste. "Attacking the Collector's would mean going through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."

I gave him my most confident fighting grin. "They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos too. I make it a habit not to let little things like that stop me."

"A fair point." He looked past me at Garrus and Samara. "Do you believe Shepard can do it?"

That wasn't something I'd been expecting, and I had to stop myself from glancing back. Garrus I was confident of, but Samara was new to the team, and I wasn't yet sure of her loyalty. Which is why it surprised me when she spoke first.

"Shepard has made a career of doing the impossible. I've pledged my service to him because his fight is noble, but if I did not expect victory to be possible, my code would not have permitted me to join him."

"I've been with Shepard a while now," Garrus put in. "And if anybody can take us into certain death and back out again, he can."

Krios nodded his understanding, then turned to face back out the window. When he spoke there was a solemnity to his voice that surprised me. "I'm dying, Shepard. Low survival odds do not concern me, you're missing colonists do. This was to be my last job. A way to leave the galaxy a little brighter than I found it."

That had not been in his file. For a second or two I didn't know what to say. "Is there anything I can do?"

He looked back at me, and to my complete surprise, he smiled at me. "Giving me this chance is enough." The smile faded. "Innocents died today. They suffered because I wasn't fast enough. I must atone for that." He stretched out his hand. "I will fight for you, Shepard, no charge." I took the offered hand, and we shook.

"Glad to have you aboard. And there might be something we can do for the families of those construction workers." I released his hand and crossed around to the far side of the desk. Careful not to disturb the corpse I pulled up my omni-tool. Miranda'd had EDI whip up a handy little program and I tapped its icon. A second later a status bar popped up, followed by the sultry voice of my ship's AI.

"How can I be of assistance, commander?"

"EDI, we've completed our mission, tell Joker we'll meet him on the Dantius Tower landing pad."

"Understood. Was there anything else?"

I grinned. "Yes. While we are waiting, I'd like you to drain every credit you can out of Nassana Dantius's private accounts."

There wasn't even a seconds hesitation from the AI. "Is there a specific destination you'd like me to drain the credits to?"

"If you siphon it into our accounts, can you cover your tracks?"

"I can leave a false trail. Where would you like me to point Illium's authorities?"

"Do you still have the fingerprint for Donovan Hock's system?"

"I do."

"Then use that. Let the authorities look more into his business dealings. Who knows, maybe some good will come out if it." I looked at Thane, who wore a conflicted expression. "And EDI. Danitus had her goons kill as many of the buildings contractors as she could find. Pull a list of everybody who was here tonight. Make sure that each of them or their surviving family gets a full year's salary before anything goes into our accounts, is that understood?"

Thane's expression eased a little, but didn't clear. "Do you usually loot the dead, Shepard?"

EDI acknowledged the orders and the status bar on my omni-tool started to fill. "Fighting to save the galaxy doesn't pay very well. She won't miss the money, and we can actually put it to some good. Does that bother you?" I kept my expression open. What I was doing was practical, even if it wasn't strictly necessary. Fuel, supplies, all of that cost credits. Cerberus might be footing the bill right now, but I had no way of knowing how long that was going to last. I already had Liara setting up a system to funnel off some of the money I was collecting from Cerberus, but more was always better.

Thane took a moment to answer. "I understand. As long as you are not taking the money for personal profit I will not stop you."

We exchanged nods and I looked at Samara. "And how about you?"

Her expression didn't even flicker. "She was a murderer and a thief, I do not care what you do with her money. Though, I think it fitting that you are using some of it to help those she has harmed."

With that settled we headed out the side door to the tower's landing pad. Joker arrived less than a minute later and we boarded the shuttle. I was glad to see he'd taken my advice and painted over the Cerberus logos. Miranda hadn't been happy about the idea, but she'd understood. The doors opened and we climbed into the ship. As we started to settle in for the ride I looked across the compartment at Garrus. "Oh, just a heads up, I'll be telling her once we get back aboard."

His eyes got wide. "Shepard, you sonofa-" The hiss as the door closed and sealed drowned out the rest of his response.


	12. Chapter 11

Kelly met us as we exited the shuttle, and I passed Thane off to her with instructions to get him settled in. She flashed me a dazzling smile, said something cute and flirtatious, then led the stoic Drell away. The extra sway in her hips as she walked might have been intentional, or it might have been a trick of my overly tired mind. Between setting up for the mission, "meeting" with Liara for "last-minute intel", and actually assaulting Dantius tower, I'd been up for over twenty four hours. It was entirely possible I was just seeing things I wanted to see. Part of me thought it would be a really good idea to have somebody else show Thane around, and instead invite Kelly up to my cabin to help me relax. Unfortunately, that part of me didn't care about things like patience, long term planning, or loyalty. It was much more concerned with things like the sway of her hips as she walked and the other things she could do with them. Pleasant as those possibilities were, I needed to take things one at a time. I already needed to talk to Jack, adding the Yeoman to the mix now would just complicate things. Kelly's time would come, but it wasn't here yet. So, with a mental sigh, I pulled my eyes off the redhead's retreating rear, and refocused on the tasks at hand.

Samara nodded to me as she stepped out of the shuttle, then started off after Kelly. Garrus gave me a look that might have been sympathy, or might have been worry, muttered something about getting Tali off the ship, then hurried after the others. I rolled my eyes. Jack wasn't going to take it badly. She knew the score, we'd even talked about it. I made sure that all my lovers knew what the situation was before I allowed things to progress too far. He was worrying for nothing. There wouldn't be any problem. No problem at all… but maybe I should save that particular task for last. The conversation would probably end in sex after all, and it would be best if everything else I needed to do was taken care of before that.

Towards that noble end, I reached up and tapped my earbud. "EDI, please connect me with Miranda." As I waited for the AI to patch me through I started walking towards the elevator. I could handle most of what I needed to do from my cabin, and it would be simpler to call Jack up there then to go find her in her bunk. Besides, my bed was bigger.

I hadn't gotten three paces before Miranda's voice interrupted my musings. "Good morning, Commander. Should I take it your mission was a success?"

Something about the way she said commander sent a shiver through me, and my lips curled into a slow smile. "It was. Mr. Krios has agreed to join our merry little band."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now that we have everybody, would you like me to go ahead and set up that briefing?"

I checked the time display on my omni-tool, winced at how early it was, and shook my head. "Let me get a few hours of sleep first. Why don't you set the meeting up for 1400 hours local."

"Understood, Commander." Her voice turned just the slightest bit suggestive. "Would you like some company?"

"I'd love some, Miranda. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure I will be-" I cut myself off before my tried brain finished saying "be a bit busy screwing Jack", but it was a near thing. I shook my head again and continued. "A bit too tired to be very good company. Even I have limits. After the briefing however…" I trailed off suggestively.

"We'll see." She teased. "Was there anything else?"

I stepped into the elevator, pressing the indicator for my cabin. "That will be all for now. Thank you, Miranda."

"Of course, Shepard." She disconnected, and I started to relax. It didn't sound like she'd noticed the slip. It wasn't that I didn't want Miranda to know I was speaking with Jack, or even that I would be sleeping with her, but we hadn't reached the point yet where I could casually tell her I was going to be busy with one of my other lovers. If I'd managed to arrange for the two of them to be together with me the way I had Ashley and Liara, that would a different story, but I doubted either of them was ready for that yet. We'd get there I was sure, but I'd take my time, ease them into it. The possibilities sharing a bed with two such powerful woman at once would offer kept my imagination busy all the way up to my cabin. I took twenty minutes to take a shower and change into fresh clothes, using the time to figure out just what I was going to say. I prepared several scripts and options during the shower. I refined those ideas in the galley where I stopped for a mug off coffee and a casual chat with Mess Sergeant Gardner. It was only when I started taking a grocery list down for the Sergeant that I realized I was actively delaying the confrontation. I don't care how tired I was, that wasn't me. I thanked Gardner for the coffee and excused myself, I needed to get this over with.

I found Jack where I expected to: sitting on her bunk, reading through yet another of the Cerberus files I'd given her. Even though we'd found and destroyed the lab on Pragia, where she'd been turned into the biotic killing machine she was today, she hadn't given up her quest to find the names of each and every single person responsible. I'd talked with her on the shuttle back, and I'd convinced her to hold off on her mission until after we'd taken out the Collector threat, promising my support in return for her restraint. Jack hadn't liked it, but she'd agreed; and now she spent most of her time building up her hit list. A list that was starting to include some rather interesting names.

Jack looked up as I descended the last couple of steps and sneered. "Get tired of fucking the cheerleader?"

That caught me completely off guard, causing me to miss a step, both figuratively and literally. My arms and mind flailed, trying to recover my balance and train of thought respectively. Jack just watched me as I fumbled about, that self satisfied little smile mocking me. My bushwhacked brain coughed up a reply just about the same time I regained my footing. It was not a very good one. "You, uh, know then?"

That earned me a scornful little laugh. "Yeah, I know. Wasn't very hard to find out. You aren't exactly subtle, Shepard."

I didn't know how to reply to that. Between her and Garrus, I was beginning to think they might have a point. I put aside questions on what I'd done wrong for the moment and focused on Jack. Her tone wasn't angry, no more so than usual anyway, but there was a definite edge it. She was trying to put me on the defensive, make me justify myself to her. If I did that, then I would be conceding that I'd done anything that required justification. I hadn't. I'd operated well within the expectations I'd put down for both of us. The relationship between us had always been about power, and this was just another example of it. She was testing me, to see if I felt embarrassed or defensive about what I'd done. If I did, it would be a sign that I'd done something wrong. That wasn't going to happen. If she wanted to be blunt, then I'd be blunt right back.

I adopted a relaxed, confident expression. "Is it a problem?" My shift from defense to offense apparently took her off guard and her sneer slipped just a bit. She hadn't seen that coming, and I took full advantage of the opportunity. "Because if it is, and you want out, that's your call." I continued. "You've known from day one that I didn't do exclusivity. I told you that flat out. Fuck, we've even talked about Miranda specifically. So, I ask you again, is it a problem?"

As I'd spoken, I'd walked right up to her, until I was standing just outside of reach. She hadn't bothered getting off her cot yet and so was forced to look up at me. As power moves went it wasn't very original, but that didn't mean it wasn't an effective one. I stood over her, arms crossed, and waited for my aggressive words and looming presence to do their work. Any second now that sneer of hers would crack, and she'd back peddle. When her lips did move though, it wasn't the way I expected them to. Her sneer spread into a full smile, and a new light kindled to life in her eyes.

"No," she drawled, "it isn't a problem."

The quip I'd held ready against her counter attack faltered, and I couldn't keep a note of confusion out of my voice. "Oh. Good. Are you sure?"

Jack looked at me pityingly. "You're a good lay, Shepard, but don't go thinking it's more than that." She actually scoffed at my expression. "What? Did you think I'd fallen in love with you? That you were so amazing that I'd only want to be with you from now on? Fuck that. And fuck you. Like I said, you're fun. And if I want to get off on anything besides my own fingers, it might as well be you. It's not like there are a ton of other options on this boat anyway. Joker would snap. Jacob's so fucking by the book he'd probably pass out if I gave him a blow job. Tali would try to kill me if I touched Vakarian, and she's one of the only people I like on this ship. Grunt's a krogan; I'm not making that mistake again. Samara scares even me, and I'm pretty sure Zaeed only fucks his guns. I'd fuck Kasumi, but I'd have to find her first. I'd hate fuck that Cerberus bitch into the ground, but since you're already doing that it kinda takes the novelty out of it. That just leaves the crew, and they're all Cerberus pussies."

She finished counting on her fingers and gave me a very direct look. "As long as you don't make it a problem, I don't care who you fuck."

I digested that. Her list was… impressive? It certainly seemed like she'd spent a fair bit of time thinking about it. There were a couple of points in it that I picked up on, and that I'd need to investigate further, but one question burned brighter than any other and I asked that first. "And just to be clear, what would make it a problem?"

She shrugged. "You can fuck her, but," her eyes flashed, "that doesn't mean you can side with the bitch over me. Do that, and I'm out of here, and I'm taking this ship with me." Power crackled around her, and indigo light flickered in her open hands. "Is that a problem?"

That was a cute touch. I thought over her words for several seconds before giving her my reply. "I can't promise that, Jack." I put my hands up to stall her before she could express her discontentment with that answer. "I can't promise I will always side with you over Miranda, or anybody else for that matter. I can promise though, that I won't do it for them. My decisions are my own. I will make the call I that I think is best at the time. Sometimes that means I'll agree with you, other times Miranda." She didn't look convinced, and I let some of the confrontation slip from my voice. "Another thing I can promise you, Jack, is that I will never betray you, for anybody. I've told you before: you're one of my people now. No matter who I'm sleeping with, you're part of my squad. I'll do everything in my power to protect you. I -"

I stopped talking as Jack started spluttering. For a moment I thought she was so angry she'd been rendered speechless, but then I realized she was suppressing laughter. My confused expression only made her laugh harder. "God, Shepard, you're such a pussy." She got a handle on her laughter. "You try to act like this big, hardcore badass, but you're a fucking pansy." Her voice became a mocking impression of mine. "Oh, Jack, I'll protect you. I'll never hurt you. Fuck, spare me." She smirked at me. "I don't need your reassurances, asshole. I didn't tell you the rules so you could comment. I told you so if you fucked up, you'd know why I was throwing you through the wall. You helped me get some closure when we blew up Pragia, and you've been straight with me about the cheerleader. So, I'm returning the favor. You can have your fun, but I'm watching you, and I will protect myself."

Honestly, that was probably the best I could expect from Jack. In time she'd learn that I meant what I said, the least I could do was give her that time. So I squared my shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Fair enough. I can respect that."

"Good," her smirk spread into a hungry smile, "cuz I'm tired of my fingers."

That was all the warning I got before she reached up, wrapped her fingers in my shirt, and pulled me towards her. The sudden motion caught me flat footed and I was yanked from my feet. She pivoted as she pulled, guiding me onto the bed and using the momentum of my fall to pull herself on top of me. I helped a little, and we ended up with me on my back and her straddling me. She must not have been kidding, because she didn't waste anytime. The next few moments were a frenzy of kissing and stripping, ending with our clothes mixed together in a pile on the floor. I thought she might slow down there for a minute, but she didn't. The entirety of our foreplay consisted of ten seconds of grinding and a kiss; then she reached between her legs, lined me up, and stopped.

She broke the kiss, and gave me a devilish smile. "Oh, one more thing. I'm in charge this time." One eyebrow quirked challengingly. "Is that a problem?"

The clever bitch. Even if there was a way I could deny her without looking like an ass, I couldn't do it with her like that, squatting over me brushing the lips of her pussy against the head of my cock. The consequences of saying no were clear, and there was no way I was passing up sex at this point. I'd have to bide my time, and find an opportunity to change the tables midway through. I didn't let my dismay at being outplayed so easily show, instead offering her a confident smile. "Not at all."

"Good" She slammed on to me, taking my entire cock in a single go. "Because you've ignored me for too long, and I'm getting what I need."

She was true to her word. There was nothing refined or controlled about how she rode me, bouncing on my shaft so hard and fast that for a few seconds I couldn't think straight. When I eventually refocused, her hands were on my chest, nails digging into my skin. Two could play at that game, so I ran my own hands along her legs, and up her chest. I fondled her breasts and played with one nipple, pinching and flicking it, but she barely reacted. She was a woman on a mission, and it was almost like I was an afterthought. In the back of my mind I knew she was making a point, using my cock to get herself off, and pretending she didn't need me. Damn if it didn't still feel amazing though. The flood of pleasure through my tired body was like a drug, washing away the aches and pains of the day. There was nothing like sex to relax the body after a fight, and if she wanted to do all the work, I was willing to let her. After a minute she pulled her arms off my chest, leaned back and placed her hands on my legs to support herself. It pulled her breasts out of my hands, but I didn't really mind because position almost arrogantly displayed her body. She smirked when she caught me looking. "Bet the Cheerleader doesn't fuck you like this. Bet she's all proper and restrained, and only does missionary."

So much for not caring about Miranda then. But hey, if Jack was channeling that energy into competitiveness instead of anger, so much the better for me. Her words brought to mind the first time I'd fucked Miranda: The way she'd mounted me on that chair, how she commanded my compliance, and several other things we'd done that night. No, Miranda didn't just do missionary. Thinking of that made me think of something else though, and my eyes widened. Jack saw it, misinterpreted it, and increased her pace. "God, are you going to cum already? Cerberus has ruined you"

"No," I got out between grunts, "just realized Miranda's probably watching us."

That made Jack pause mid stroke. "What the fuck do you mean she might be watching us?"

I kept my voice as light as I could. "Cerberus has bugs all over the ship, so she's probably watching us right now."

* * *

"Damn right I am." Miranda muttered to herself. She sat back against her office chair, and tried to decide if what she was doing was more or less appropriate now that she was sleeping with Shepard. She'd been wondering how long it would take him to tell Jack, and she'd almost convinced herself he wasn't going to. Once he'd slipped up after declining her invitation to join him though, she'd been sure he was heading to see Jack. So she'd followed his progress over her cameras. It had surprised her how long it took for him to make his way down below decks, but not nearly as much as what she'd heard once he got there.

She'd been prepared for the psychotic little bitch to rip into Shepard, verbally at least. What she hadn't been prepared for was Jack casually admitting to knowing about Miranda and Shepard. Miranda had taken pains not to let her in public interactions with Shepard change at all. There was no need for the whole ship to know after all, and if Jack had figured it out despite her best efforts, that suggested some worrying possibilities. She hadn't told the Illusive Man yet, mostly because it was none of his bloody business, but if she didn't tell him and he heard it from somebody else on the crew, that might cause a problem. She made a note to move up her next status report.

Jack's admission that she wanted to: "hate fuck her into the ground" wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was nice to have at least one of her theories born out. The last thing that had stood out to her was Jack's comment about watching Shepard. She might be able to use that suspicion to turn Jack against the Commander. If she could maneuver the younger woman into thinking she was edging her out, it might give her a wedge she could use.

Even as her analytical brain was chasing down that train of thought, other parts of her mind were fixed on more… primal... aspects of the encounter. The position Jack had paused in painted a pretty picture. She was leaning back away from Shepard, arms on his legs, and chest and hips thrust forward as if intentionally displaying herself for Miranda's pleasure. She'd paused with Shepard still half inside her, and even through the display his cock was clearly slick with her pussy juices. Miranda's own pussy was almost equally as wet. As soon as she'd confirmed that Shepard was headed to see Jack she'd taken... precautions. Her bra and panties were folded neatly on her desk, and her suit was open as far as it would go. She'd taken advantage of the fact that they were on Illium and swung by the flagship Neyxia store. Her purchase buzzed and hummed from between her legs as she waited for the younger woman's response to Shepard revelation.

For a few seconds she thought Jack might revert back to her murderous instincts, but then her frown slowly spread into an evil grin. Miranda's cameras were so good she could even see the glint in the other woman's eye. She started moving again, sliding all the way down Shepard's cock. "Let her watch," the smile grew cocky, "she might learn something."

* * *

Jack apparently took the revelation that we might have an audience as a challenge, because after her confident declaration, she went back to work with a will. Each thrust was harder, each moan louder; and when she came, she milked it for everything it was worth. She bucked her hips theatrically, screamed her pleasure at the room, and generally made a spectacle of herself. I loved every second of it, and even though I knew she was playing it up, it still pushed me into an orgasm of my own. The rush of my cum met a flood of her own, and together we completely filled her pussy. Wet warmness slid out around my shaft, pooling on my balls, and liberally coating my inner thighs.

It drained me, and for a moment all I could do was lay there and look up at Jack. I'd had lovers fight over me before, not that I encouraged it, but I had to admit it was certainly making this encounter more fun. I wasn't totally sure how I felt about the possibility of Miranda watching us, but if was making Jack this horny, I could roll with it. That had been one of the strongest orgasms I'd ever felt from her. I honestly wasn't sure if I was the cause of that, or if it was her badly concealed boner for Miranda, either way, it was hot as hell.

Panting a little herself, Jack looked at me. "Bet the cheerleader doesn't do that." Her gaze shifted to the ceiling. "Do you slut? Bet you fuck like an old housewife." She was really having fun with this. "Watch Cheerleader, I'm gonna make Shepard eat his own cum out of my pussy!"

Wait.. what?

Before I could react, Jack pulled off me, crawled up the bed, and shoved her sopping pussy in my face. Instinctively I tried to pull away, but her hands wrapped around the back of my head, holding me there. I couldn't see her smug grin, but I could imagine it as she ground herself against me. Oh, well, fuck it. I'd said she was in charge. I set to my task. Keeping my tongue flat I started to lap at the mess. Every time her grinding let me, I'd kiss and suck on her clit. It was dirty, sloppy work, in moments my entire lower face was coated in mixed cum and pussy juices. The combination of both of our cum was intoxicatingly erotic and it drove me to greater heights. I shifted my hands to her ass, shoving her a little further up my face so I could bury my tongue deep inside her pussy. That did the trick, and she came again, bucking hard against my face. I kept working through her orgasm, and in a few seconds her hands released my head and she slumped back, momentarily exhausted.

I could have pressed my advantage there, pushed out from under her, maybe forced her to suck my cock in exchange; but another idea had occurred to me. If she wanted to make this a show, I'd indulge her. I pulled a little on one of her legs, and she got the message, sliding back down onto my lap. When she cleared my chest, I pushed myself into a sitting position and kissed her. My face was still a complete mess, and her lipstick just added to it, but that didn't matter. Breaking the kiss, I leaned into whisper my plan in her ear, hoping she'd go along with it. Her excited kiss was all the answer I needed.

She slid off me, letting me shift into a new position with my back to the wall. When I was ready I reached out and pulled her back onto my lap, but this facing away from me, towards where I guessed one of the cameras had to be. I slid my arms around her legs, taking her weight and letting her back rest against my chest. She reached down and guided me into position. I lowered her slowly until my cock was resting just against her asshole, and then we paused.

"Miranda," Jack drawled, "you might have a fantastic ass, but I let Shepard fuck mine."

I plunged in.

* * *

Miranda hadn't been expecting that. She watched in depraved fascination as Shepard interlaced his fingers behind Jack's head, and proceeded to hammer the smaller woman's ass. They'd picked an almost perfect angle, and she had a completely unobstructed view of the spectacle. Jack's entire body shuddered with each thrust, modest breasts bouncing and skin gleaming with sweat. Muscles stood out in Shepard's arms and legs, and his balls bounced mesmerizingly. It was as pure a display of sheer sexual power and stamina as Miranda had ever seen, and it was hitting all the the marks.

She slid a hand between her legs, grinding the toy snugged against her palm hard into her clit. It wasn't enough, and she slipped two fingers inside, unconsciously matching their rhythm to the furious pace Shepard was using on Jack. Her other hand was on one of her breasts, fondling it as she fucked herself to the private porn show on her display. And that's what it was. Shepard and Jack had clearly decided to prove a point, and they were putting on a display just for her. Jack was grunting out insults and boasts between cries and moans, every single one of them aimed at Miranda and her sexual prowess. It should have made her furious, it was clearly meant to, but instead, it just made her wet. Miranda was a competitive woman, proud of her skills, and maybe just a touch vain. Jack pushing all of those buttons. Each thrust of her fingers, every vibration the toy sent shivering through her, each wave of pleasure, and every pathetic insult washed away her restraint like the ocean eroding a cliff. She no longer desired to supplant Jack as Shepard's primary lover for information reasons. No, now she was going to do it to put that arrogant little bitch in her place.

On her screen an orgasm ripped its way through Jack. The younger woman's eyes rolled up in her head, and her insults were drowned out by a protracted cry. She shuddered in Shepard's arms, pussy leaking visably. Shepard hilted her on his cock, and let her orgasm take her fully. He let go of her head and legs to grope at one breast and slide the other hand down and into her pussy. The sight made Miranda want to cum, the fire between her legs roaring up to an inferno that threatened to consume her if she didn't give it what it wanted. She made herself wait a full ten seconds after Jack came, proving to herself if nobody else that she could take more than the ex con. Only after she saw the other woman stop stuttering and start to come down did she let herself cum; and it was so intense that for a few moments her vision blurred.

Slowly she came back to herself, sliding her drenched fingers out of her pussy and pulling her palm away from her clit. That had been… wow… that had been wow. Shepard had apparently cum too, because he and Jack were now collapsed on the bed. Neither one looked ready to do anything, so she pressed the button to record, then turned the monitor off. She needed a moment to get herself back under control. It took her almost a full minute to get her breathing back to normal, and for her head to mostly clear. Once she was sure she'd recovered enough to watch whatever was happening, she flicked the monitor back on. It ran through an accelerated version of the recorded footage, and for a second she thought she saw something near the foot of the bed where Shepard's clothes had been piled, but when she paused the video there was nothing. Maybe she wasn't as recovered as she though. She shook her head and let the rest of the recording play out. In accelerated motion Shepard pulled Jack to his chest and they started kissing again. The video slowed down to normal speed just as he slid his hand back between her legs.

Miranda leaned forward, studying the display intently. This time though, her focus wasn't on Shepard. People thought crazy things in the middle of sex, but that didn't mean she didn't still want to prove she was better than the younger woman. The image of Jack riding Shepard's face, and several of her more choice insults and boasts hung suspended in her only did she want to replace her as Shepard's primary lover, she wanted Jack to know it. As the couple on her screen started to work back up to another fucking round, she pulled up a note program and started to catalogue each of Jack's comments. Miranda was nothing if not thorough, and she wanted to make sure she addressed every single one them.

* * *

Several hours later I was woken up by a priority beeping from my desk. Years of training and experience with the Alliance Navy had gotten me used to random alarms and calls at bizarre hours, but those years hadn't usually included putting on a private sex show after a twenty four hour day of activity and combat. It was surprising just how much that took out of a person. My body and reflexes apparently found some kind of compromise and I levered one eye open to look at the clock built into my desk communicator. Three hours. I'd been asleep for just over three hours. I growled a little to myself. If this was Miranda getting ready to complain about my little show…

I reached out and slapped the acceptance key, doing my best to keep the weariness and frustration from my voice as I answered it. "Shepard. What is it?"

"Well, good morning to you too, Commander. Late night?" Normally I enjoyed Joker's refusal to grow up, normally I'd gotten more than three hours of sleep.

"What do you want, Joker?"

"Well, if you're making a list, there's this new aircar that NeoFusion just announced. It's not on the market yet, but I'm pretty sure a call from the Savior of the Citadel could convince them to make an exception…"

I thought longingly of airlocks and old wet navy planks. "Joker. What. Do. You. Need?"

Either I'd lost my touch at infusing murder into my tone, or the glib little fucker just didn't care. "Oh, if we're talking need, that's a whole different story. I'm actually a little worried about the way my baby would fare up against a bigger threat like that Collector Ship we saw on Horizon, or the one that butchered my last baby for that matter. I've put together a list of recommended…"

I growled, it wasn't intentional, and it wasn't exactly the most dignified thing I could have done, but I couldn't help myself. "Joker…"

"Sorry, sorry, just trying to help wake you up before you have to go deal with our lord and master."

That got my attention. "Our what?"

"Our oh so evasive benefactor, financier, and all around supplier of fun little toys like brand new stealth frigates and second lives for galactic heroes." His voice finally dropped it's perpetual mocking tone. "The Illusive Man is on the comm for you, it sounded important."

That adrenaline spike finished what my old navy reflexes had started, and I finally woke up fully. I disconnected without thanking Joker and reached for where I'd piled my clothes after leaving Jack's hidey hole? Lair? Den? Fuck it! After leaving Jack. Oddly, I wasn't able to find my underwear. I'd been a little distracted at the time though, so I'd probably just left them there. I'd invited Jack to join me in my room, but now was immensely glad she'd declined. She'd have given me no end of shit for going commando to talk to the Illusive Man, but I figured it wasn't worth the time to pull out a fresh pair of briefs. Joker had run out my clock a bit for me to let me wake up, but if the asshole was calling me, there had to be a good reason, so I threw on yesterday's clothes and headed off to see what the universe had in store for me next.


	13. Chapter 12

The universe had apparently decided to actually help me for once. It was a nice change of pace to be honest. The best I could usually expect from fate was a lackluster hand job, but this time lady luck had apparently been horny enough to spread her legs for me. The Illusive Man had intercepted the signal from a pair of Turian frigates that had engaged and disabled a Collector Ship. He'd given me the coordinates, and Joker already had us enroute.

The trip would take a few hours, so I set a few things up, then took shower to help wake myself up. A trip down to Karin for a stimulant, and I was ready to go. It wasn't the healthiest thing I could do, but as long as I didn't try to live off them for more than a few days, it wouldn't be a problem. So I was clean, and almost painfully alert when I stepped into the conference room to address my fully assembled squad for the first time.

It was a lot like that meeting right before Horizon, with my team scattered around the room in little clumps. The conference room didn't have any chairs, so most of them were standing, but I smiled a little at Kasumi, who was sitting crossed leg on the far end of the conference table. Behind her I could see Jack, back in the corner and trying hard not to look like she was glaring at Miranda. The XO was at the head of the room, and as I came in she turned to me and nodded.

"Everybody's here, Commander. Want to fill us in on why?" There was a slight bite to her words, but I wasn't sure if it was because she knew what I knew, or because she knew about Jack. For the moment I was going to assume it was the former, because I didn't have time to deal with bruised egos. I nodded at her, then turned back to the room.

"Approximately 45 minutes ago, two Turian cruisers engaged and disabled a Collector Ship. The Illusive Man intercepted their report, and we are considerably closer to them than the nearest Turian ship. Joker already has us enroute, and we should arrive in approximately two hours." As soon as I mentioned the Collectors the side conversations all ended. "Some of you have already fought them, but since we have a few people among us who haven't, I wanted to take this opportunity to go over everything we know about the Collector's we've encountered." I motioned to Miranda. "To that end, I'm going to pass this over to Miranda. At my request she's assembled a report on each of the Collector forms we encountered on Horizon, as well as any other records she could get her hands on. I know you've all gotten a copy of these reports," I glanced at Jack, "but I want to go over them again anyway to make sure we're all on the same page. Miranda?"

I stepped away from the head of the table, and she slid confidently into my place. Whatever had been bothering her earlier was gone, and she set about the briefing with a brisk professionalism.

"Thank you, Commander." She tapped a button on her datapad, and in the center of the table, an oversized representation of a seeker appeared. "These creatures, which we've named seekers, swarm their target, overwhelming their shields or barriers then imposing a form of biotic stasis on them. The effects of this stasis seem to be temporary, but not so much that we can rely on it during a fight. Dr. Solus has come up with a counter measure, and we were able to test it on Horizon…"

As she continued the briefing, I took the opportunity to gauge the feel of the room. For Tali, Thane, Samara and Kasumi, this would be the first time they'd gone up against the Collectors, and I wanted to make sure none of them were having second thoughts. I was immensely satisfied with the results. All four of them were calm and collected throughout, though Kasumi looked a little nervous at the mention of the creatures we'd named Praetorians. Which was fair, they were giant flying murder zombie bugs with laser eyes after all. But all in all, they listened attentively until Miranda finished her briefing. Once she'd gone through the whole list, she opened the floor for questions.

Thane's was the first hand to go up. "Are all of the Collector forms susceptible to this powered up state? Or is it limited specifically to the drones?"

"Based on the visual records, it would seem that whatever this state is it's activated by an off-site commander in an effort to prolong the effectiveness of its soldiers. The creatures we observed in this state had each already taken several hits and were approaching combat ineffectiveness. We theorize that this state puts a great strain on the body and so is only used as a last ditch effort to maximize the usable lifetime of the drone. There also appears to be a lag time between this state activating and the death of the drone. So, to answer your original question, while we've only observed it in the drones, we are operating under the assumption that all forms have this state. Given that, kill shots are preferable to wounding. If you have the choice between a wounded and a fresh collector trooper, take out the wounded one before they can activate whatever this is. As of right now, we have no theories as to what those states do to any of the other forms." She broke from the professional, dispassionate debriefing long enough to smile at the gathered soldiers. "Personally, I'd rather keep it that way."

That got a laugh, and Thane nodded his thanks. His hand went down, and was immediately replaced by several others. It went on like that for another ten minutes, with Miranda clearing up confusions or answering questions and responding to theories. Once the questions started to delve into the realm of pure speculation I thanked Miranda and reassumed the lead of the briefing.

"Now you all know more or less everything I know, and I think it's time we started talking specifics." I tapped a button on the data pad I'd taken from Miranda, and a holograph of the Collector Ship replaced the image of the Praetorian she'd been using during her last answer. "This is a reconstruction of the ship using scans taken on Horizon. EDI and Miranda have identified this", a small port on the middle of the ship started to blink, "as our best chance of an entry point. We don't know how much damage the Turians may have done to the ship, so we're going to assume we'll run into some stiff resistance. So, given that, we're going in hard and fast. The shuttle will be a little cramped, but everybody is coming on this one. On top of the additional firepower, I want everybody to see first hand what the enemy looks like. Ideally, we'll all stick together, but if that isn't an option, we're going to be broken into two teams. First team will consist of myself, Grunt, Garrus, Samara, Jacob, Kasumi, and Thane. Second team will be Miranda, Tali, Mordin, Jack, and Zaeed." I looked at Miranda. "You've got second team."

At the back of the room Jack muttered: "Sure, I fuck you and get put in the vanguard, she fucks you and gets a whole fucking team." She didn't make any effort to keep her voice down, and a sudden silence filled the room. For several seconds I just stared at Jack. What was she thinking? Picking now as the time to bring that up? I opened my mouth to tell her to shut up, but Miranda's ice cold voice interdicted me

"What did you say?"

Jack shoved herself off the wall and stalked arrogantly forward. "I said you got command because you're fucking Shepard, just like how you get all your jobs."

Miranda took a step of her own forward. "I'm in charge because I am the second in command of this ship, and I'm second in command of this ship because I bloody well earned it. If you don't believe me, I'd be happy to give you a demonstration by personally kicking your ass off of it."

Jack slammed both fists down on the table, denting the hardwood. "I'd like to see you try."

"If you don't stand down right now, I'll do more than try."

"Fuck you, Cheerleader! I don't give a fuck how well you sucked the Illusive Man's cock, you're not my fucking boss."

"Yes, she is." The anger made my voice cold, and every eye in the room shifted from the glaring little girl back to me. "Contrary to what you might prefer, Jack, Miranda is the executive officer on this ship, and she is in that position because I want her there. I'm aware you have a problem with Cerberus, but as of this moment, I officially do not give a fuck. Cerberus isn't telling you to listen to her, the Illusive Man isn't telling you to listen to her, I am telling to you to listen to her." I looked over at Miranda. "I still want her on your team." She was obviously pissed, but she nodded. I returned my glare to Jack. "This is your one chance, Jack. Be very sure of your answer: can you follow Miranda's orders?"

She glared back at me for a three count before averting her eyes and mumbling something. "I didn't hear that."

Her glare returned for a second, and her lip twisted in disgust, but she repeated herself. "I can." She spat the words out as if they were something foul tasting. I held her eyes for another few seconds. Obviously she wasn't happy, and we were far from done with this discussion, but she'd accepted that she'd lost. I wasn't sure yet what the fallout from this little outburst would be, but I was sure it wouldn't be pleasant. I'd thought I'd dealt with this already, but apparently I'd been too lenient. I'd indulged her too much, and now it was coming back to bite me in the ass. When this mission was over, she and I were going to have to discuss the parameters of our relationship. She must have read something of what I was thinking in my expression because she broke eye contact and retreated back to her wall. I let my gaze sweep the rest of the table. Grunt and Zaeed gave me approving nods. Garrus shook his head and mimed an explosion in a clear I-told-you-so gesture. Jacob was looking from me, to Miranda, to Jack, a slightly disappointed and disgusted look on his face. I wasn't sure if that was directed at the way I'd handled the situation, or the revelation that Miranda and I were sleeping together, and at the moment I didn't really care. Samara was her usual inscrutable self. Tali was shaking her head minutely, and to my surprise I saw her pull her hand back from the stock of her shotgun. Mordin didn't meet my eyes, and Kasumi had retreated back inside her hood, giving me nothing to work with. I pointedly didn't look at Miranda.

I gave everybody a few more seconds to voice their opinions, and when nobody did, I cleared my throat. "Alright, then. Shall we resume the briefing?"

* * *

Miranda sat quietly in the shuttle, stewing. She couldn't quite tell who she was more upset with. Jack, for her ridiculous and insulting allegations, or Shepard, for cutting her off and jumping in to save her when Jack got uppity. She understood why Jack had reacted the way she did, that was simply her fear of being replaced, the safe fear that had prompted her to taunt Miranda that morning with that ridiculous display. Jack had reacted the way she always did when worried, with aggression, and so her outburst had made sense. Shepard though? Shepard had robbed her of the opportunity to solve the damn problem. He'd come in, dick swinging, and beat Jack down with it, completely robbing Miranda of the opportunity to stand up for herself, and almost guaranteeing that the problem would come back. On top of that, he'd still saddled her with the problem by bringing Jack along. By all rights the crazy bitch should be staying back aboard the damn ship, preferably in the brig. But no, there she was, sitting as far away from Miranda as she could in the cramped shuttle. She was sulking, leaning back in her seat, with her arms folded petulantly across her chest, fingers of one hand drumming on the helmet of her borrowed suit of armor. Shepard had insisted they all gear up in case the ship had lost atmosphere, and the only thing they'd had in Jack's size had been a set of experimental armor the Cerberus R&D team had sent to Miranda for evaluation. It made her look simultaneously more professional, yet subtly wrong, like a little girl playing soldier. Jack wasn't a soldier, she was barely a teammate, and forcing her into Cerberus armor wasn't going to change that. She hadn't said anything since the meeting, but Miranda saw the way she shot glares at her when she thought she wasn't looking. Well let the bitch stew, she only had herself to blame after all.

The shuttle door opened, and Shepard entered. He'd been up in the cockpit with Joker, and if he was here now, that meant they were about to go in. His eyes found her, and he made his way through the tight confines of the crew compartment. The shuttle might be able fit twelve fully armored marines, but it didn't do it easily, and it took him a few seconds to reach her. She used that time to shove her irritation with the man to the back of her mind, the mission came first after all. As he drew closer she noted the sheen in his eyes, and the tightness at their corners, as well as around his mouth. He was on edge. That worried her. Generally before a mission it was hard for him to contain his excitement and he practically thrummed with energy. If he was actually showing his worry… She rose to meet him as he reached her, Vakarian in his wake. He leaned in, prompting her and the Turian to do the same.

"We're on target. The Collector Ship appears to be dead in space, and Joker thinks he's found us a landing site."

"So, what's the problem then?" She matched her volume to his own lowered voice.

He didn't even question how she knew it there was one. "There are also two wrecked Turian frigates. Neither has any lifesigns. I don't like it."

His bad feelings must have been contagious, because there was a flutter in her stomach that had nothing to do with the shuttles take off. "You think it's a trap?"

Vakarian gave her a skeptical look. "With our luck? I'll be more surprised if it isn't."

Which was fair. She reached out to steady herself as the ship accelerated. "What's the plan then?"

Shepard shrugged. "Same as before really. Not a whole lot to change, but, I'll want to detail a rear guard to stay and watch the shuttle. I'm thinking Jacob and Zaeed." That was one person from each fire team, which made sense, though she wished she could leave Jack behind. She considered suggesting it, but didn't. When nobody argued with his idea, he continued. "Alright. Once we're aboard, Miranda, I want your team to hang a little behind mine. If you see something we miss, like a side passage or data terminal, use your own judgement. I trust you."

Then you should have let me deal with Jack. She thought to herself. But even as she did, the words sent a flush of embarrassed pride through her. Despite her better judgement, it felt good to hear Shepard say that. It shouldn't have, it should have just been a simple fact that he trusted her, she'd worked hard enough to make it that way. But still, something about hearing it made her feel like she deserved it. And that bothered her. It wasn't something she had time to deal with now, but she'd have to sooner or later. She kept the traitorous pride out of her voice. "Thanks."

He flashed a smile at her, and for a moment the worry and fear disappeared from his face. But only for a moment. Then he looked past her at Jack and it returned. Miranda shot a glance over her own shoulder at the younger woman, who was pointedly not looking at them. Her mouth bypassed her brain. "You should have let me deal with her."

"There wasn't time." He replied, voice confident but eyes troubled. "I can't have the two of you fighting, there isn't time for it. If I'd let you handle it, one of you would be sitting this mission out, and it's too important for that. This way she's angry with me, not you, and that's fine. She can be as mad at me as she wants. I know how to deal with that."

"I saw," again her voice bypassed her reason, "it was quite the show." He started to say something but she cut him off. She kept her voice low, but didn't sacrifice her intensity. "No. It's not important right now. What is important is that you're wrong. By slapping her down, you undercut me and my authority. Jack might be angry at you, but she's focused it on me. I can still do my job, and I'll make sure she does hers, but you need to stay out of it. You say you trust me? Then trust me to run my team. If she mouths off to me on that ship, I'll deal with it. Otherwise I really am just running this team because I'm sleeping with you!"

Beside her Vakarian cleared his throat uncomfortably and Miranda suddenly remembered exactly where she was. The shuttle had gone silent save for the running noises, the side conversations and rustling they'd been using as cover for their meeting completely absent as everybody tried to look as if they weren't listening to the argument, with the exception of Jack, who was openly staring at her, a huge smile on her face. She'd just inadvertently confirmed what the other woman had implied. She needed to say something, do something, somehow she needed fix this.

Before she could though, the shuttle vibrated, then started to decelerate. EDI's electronic voice sounded over the PA system. "Landing in 30 seconds. Scans show no lifesigns, the landing site is clear."

Shepard straightened and looked around at the uncomfortable crew. "Ok, people." He barked. "Helmets on, and assemble in your teams. I want us out those doors as soon as they open."

Despite what had just happened, they jumped to, responding to the pure authority in his voice. It was something about him, something she'd only ever seen in the Illusive Man. When he gave orders, he expected them to be obeyed, and more, you wanted to obey them. Without looking at her he tapped Vakarian on the shoulder, and together they set off to join the rest of team one, leaving Miranda to ready her own team. 

* * *

I couldn't believe Miranda had done that. Her points were valid sure, but she hadn't needed to dress me down in front of the whole damn crew. We were about to start what might be one of the most dangerous missions we'd even gone on, and now the crew was worrying not about being ambushed by Collectors, but instead about who I was sleeping with. I wanted to say something, to give a speech or at least a few words to get everybody back on track, but anything I said would just draw further attention to it. So instead, I made a show of getting ready. Checking over my gear and weapons in an obvious fashion. I'd opted for a more close quarters loadout than I usually went with, swapping my Locust for a Tempest, the shorter submachine gun had a higher rate of fire and was better at shorter range. I'd traded my sniper rifle for a shotgun, trusting to my Mattock if I needed to engage at medium range. I activated the ammo upgrades, disruption for the Tempest and incendiary for everything else. Then I slipped my helmet on, and counted along with the countdown in the upper right corner of my hud. As soon as the door opened, I leapt out.

I wasn't sure what I'd expected from this ship, but the inside of an insect hive hadn't really been on the list. Here and there I could see evidence of the actual structure of the ship, metal beams or bulkheads, but they were obscured by a substance that almost looked natural, like stone or maybe some kind of wax. The ceiling glowed with a soft, yellow green light that created patches of darkness in corners and edges. All in all it was a fairly creepy place. I tracked my rifle back and forth, saw nothing, and I stalked forward. Behind me, team one followed me out of the shuttle, fanning out into a shooting line.

"I like what they've done with the place." Garrus quipped and Tali snorted.

"I looks like a giant insect hive." Jacob commented, mirroring my own thoughts. EDI cut through the chorus of agreements that followed.

"Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with the Collector databanks. Marking location on your hardsuit computer."

I pulled up the location, and a waypoint market appeared leading, suprise suprise, deeper into the ship. I sent the data to the rest of the team. "Alright people, looks like we're going deeper into the creepy ship." That won me a collection of acknowledgements, at least one groan. "Jacob, Zaeed, stay here and watch our exit. If anything happens to the shuttle we're fucked. Everybody else, follow me."

We set out, and almost immediately learned something interesting. According to EDI, this was the same ship that attacked Horizon. If that was true, it was possible some of the colonists were still alive. A little further along we found some of the same stasis pods we'd seen on Horizon, only this time, they were empty.

"That is a horrible fate." Samara commented. "Trapped in those pods. Completely at the mercy of the Collectors."

"Fuck that!" Jack swore. "Bad way to go."

"Why are these empty though?" Kasumi asked.

We got our answer a little further along. The corridor we were following opened into a larger room. On the left an open door led further into the ship. To the right the walls opened up to give us a look at a large open space. Several other levels of the ship were visible, with corridors and passageways criss-crossing them. Directly in front of us, was our answer. Human bodies lay in a pile almost a meter high and three across. They were mixed in with more of the stuff coating the walls, so only bits and pieces of the bodies poked out. Most of the bodies were fairly well preserved, with no clear signs of what had killed them. Somebody made a retching sound.

"Why?" Tali asked, voice thick with disgust. "Why would the Collectors just leave a pile of bodies lying around?"

Mordin stepped forward, kneeling to examine one of the bodies more closely. "Test subjects clearly. Unclear what tests for. Must take samples." He pulled a small kit from his armor's belt and started prodding at the bodies.

Miranda stepped up next to me. "Go. We'll catch up once the professor's done."

Whatever had happened aboard the shuttle, she clearly still understood her role in this. I nodded my thanks, then turned back to my team. "Let's go, still need to find that data link." 

* * *

Shepard led his team through the door on the left, and Miranda returned her attention to her own team. Professor Solus was still busy with bodies, mumbling to himself as he collected his samples. Tali'Zorah stood next to him.

"Horrible." she said, looking down at the bodies. "Better to die, than to end up as a test subject for twisted aliens."

"Or twisted Humans." Jack growled. Miranda looked at her. She was standing with her back to the bodies, looking out over the ledge at the exposed sections of the ship. Her body was tense, helmet scanning back and forth as she looked for something to shoot. It hit Miranda then what this must be like for Jack. She'd seen the recordings of Shepard's trip to Pragia. Seen the facilities there, the journal entries and reports from the Cerberus scientists who'd experimented on her. This had to be calling up some of those memories.

"Jack," She ventured. "You doing alright?"

"Fuck you, cheerleader. I'm fine."

Well, fuck her too then. "Good." She snapped. "Then watch the way we came in."

Jack grumbled, but shifted her attention away from the opening in the wall and back to corridor they'd entered though. At least she hadn't fought her on that simple an order. Shepard's voice came over her helmet comm.

"Miranda, is Mordin done taking his samples yet?" She glanced at the professor, who was still crouched over the pile of corpses.

She keyed her comm. "Not yet."

"Well, tell him to expedite. About 200 meters ahead of you there's a Collector in some kind of stasis pod. I want your team to disconnect it and bring it back to the shuttle, I want Mordin to study this thing in more detail."

"Shepard," she asked, "are you sure about this?"

"According to EDI, the Collectors used to be Protheans, Miranda. We need to know more about this."

That stopped her dead. The Collectors, Protheans? The Protheans had been the advanced species that had littered the galaxy with artifacts of extreme technological value, up until recently they'd even been given credit for the construction of the Mass Relays. If what Shepard was saying was true… she honestly didn't know what it would mean, but it had to be important. He was right, if they could salvage a body, they should. All of the corpses on Horizon had decomposed incredibly quickly, melting away to dust in mere minutes, Professor Solus theorized it was some kind of engineered self defense mechanism to help keep information about them limited. So if this this really was a chance to collect a body, did they really have a choice?

"We're on it, Shepard." She turned to the Salarian. "Wrap it up, Professor. Shepard's found a Collector in a stasis pod and we're taking it home with us."

Solus rose excitedly, clipping his case back onto his belt. "Excellent. Done here anyway. Lead on."

The found the room where Shepard had said they would. There were several of the stasis pods hooked up to large machines that looked vaguely medical in nature. Two of the pods contained human bodies, and Miranda checked each of them for a pulse, expecting the result she got. They were dead. She had no idea how to go about checking the Collector for a pulse, so she didn't bother. Instead, she set Solus and Tali'Zorah about the task of figuring out how to disconnect the pod so they could safely transport it back to the shuttle. She didn't bother giving Jack anything to do, nothing needed smashing right now.

Once everybody who had a job was working, she keyed her comm to patch her into team one's communications channel. She listened with interest while Joker explained to Shepard that this ship was the same one that had attacked the Normandy two years ago. That was rather interesting, and she wondered if it meant that the Collector's only had one ship, or if this particular ship had had it out for Shepard for that long. If they had, then that was one hell of a vendetta. She listened as Shepard's team found what sounded like the core of the ship. A great hollow space line almost completely with stasis pods. The description gave her chills. If even a quarter of this ship was dedicated to holding prisoners, then they could take all of the Terminus colonies without ever reaching max capacity. How many people had died when the Turians knocked out this ship's power? She pondered that as Shepard's team traversed through an open area. Just as they found the dataport. Jack sidled up to her, breaking into her concentration.

"You sure fucked up back on the shuttle." Miranda couldn't see her face beneath her helmet, but she could hear the other woman's smirk. "I'm a bitch to everybody, so who cares what I say. But you, cheerleader? You went and straight up admitted you were fucking Shepard."

"Shut up, Jack." She growled

"What? Don't want people to know you get laid? Or maybe I was right. Maybe fucking really is how you get all your authority."

She strangled her anger. "I know what you're doing. It won't work."

Jack cackled. "Uhhoo, you do, do you? Tell me, Miranda," She drew her name out, "what am I trying to do?"

Miranda looked at her square on for the first time. "You're intentionally trying to piss me off. You want me to get mad and screw up, so you can prove to yourself and to Shepard that I'm no better than you are. Well, I've got news for you, Jack.-"

The entire ship thrummed. The dim lights and indicators on the consoles in the room blazed to sudden brilliance, then faded. The doors a both ends of the room slammed shut leaving the consoles and medical machines the only sources of light. That was, until a pulsing amber glow started to emanate from the stasis pod. A deep, resonant voice accompanied the light.

"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."


	14. Chapter 13

Miranda shoved Jack, hurling her out of the way even as she dove the opposite direction. The stasis pod the Collector had been lying in tore through the air where they'd been standing, slamming into the wall hard enough to leave cracks in it. The creature itself hovered in place, body blackened and charred, with amber light leaking out from the network of cracks in its skin. Sickly yellow energy gathered in one hand, the other was wrapped Solus's throat. The creature held the professor almost half a meter off the ground. Off to one side she could see Tali'Zorah's limp body, sprawled over another of the stasis pods. Despite his disadvantageous position, the professor wasn't out of the fight. His omnitool glowed, and he drove a punch into his attacker's face. Fire blossomed from the impact point, washing out to engulf the creature's head. **  
**  
From inside the conflagration came that deep voice again. "YOU CANNOT RESIST."

The Collector tightened its fingers, and even from several meters away, Miranda could hear the crackling protest of the Salarian's armor. She snapped her pistol up, hammering a trio of shots into the Collector's torso. The shots impacted on its barrier, sending out miniature explosions of sparks, but doing no apparent damage. They got it's attention though. It shifted, interposing Solus between itself and Miranda. It's free hand shot out, that ball of yellow energy crackling with black lighting shooting past the struggling professor and Miranda was forced to dive to the side again. The energy ball changed direction, catching her mid leap. It detonated against her barrier, the explosion hurling her to the ground. She bounced twice, and slammed into the wall. Even through her armor and barrier the impact dazed her. She struggled to move though, knowing there would be a follow up attack, and desperately trying to get out of the way. Blearily she saw the second orb, this one black with yellow lighting, floating almost calmly towards her, and despite its pace knew she wouldn't be able to dodge it, she was just too groggy.

From off to her side, somebody shouted, and shockwave of indigo energy lashed across the floor and intercepted the floating orb. The energies mixed and detonated, cracking the floor in the two meter radius, and buffeting her with backwash. The collector snapped it's gaze off Miranda, and she followed it. Jack had regained her feet. She'd lost her shotgun during the fall, and had biotic energy cupped in each hand as she advanced on the creature.

"I will destroy you!" She snarled, the light from her hands intensifying.

Miranda's eyes widened and she grew cold. Jack had almost limitless power, but her control was lacking at the best of times. If she threw that much power at the Collector while he was still holding Mordin... Jack cocked her arm back, preparing to unleash her fury.

"No!" Miranda shouted, trying to shove herself back to her feet. Jack shot a glance at Miranda, and the momentary distraction cost her. The Collector didn't bother throwing another of its biotic attacks, instead, it used the closest thing to hand, Mordin. A flare of biotic energy shot the fully armored Salarian out of its hand, directly at Jack. She abandoned her strike, trying to roll out of the way, but wasn't fast enough. Mordin's flailing leg caught her on the side of the head, the impact spinning her and dropping her to her feet. It gave Miranda an opening though, and she unloaded the rest of her pistol's thermal clip into the Collector.

"THESE ATTACKS ARE POINTLESS." It thundered, and sent another of its paired biotic attacks lashing at her. Miranda had expected that, and she shot her hand out, biotics flaring into shield. She caught the first attack, dissipating its force into the energy of her shield, it pushed her back, but not much. The second attack detonated on contact. Heat washed over her, and oily black flames started to chew at the edges of the shield. That wasn't a biotic attack at all! It was more similar to the incendiary attack omnitools could generate. The Collector was blending biotics and tech. She gritted her teeth. That would be a pain in the ass. Keeping one arm extended in front of her to keep the shield in place, she rose. Her other hand holstered her pistol and drew her submachine gun. It had barriers, and if she wanted to get through those, she'd need the increased rate of fire.

"What the fuck, cheerleader!" Jack bellowed as she scrambled back to her feet. Solus lay a few meters past her. The Salarian wasn't moving. Jack called power back to her hands. "I fucking had him, bitch!"

Miranda gaped at the younger woman. What the fuck? Was she really doing this right now? The momentary distraction cost Miranda, and she had to scramble to get her shield back in place to intercept the Collector's next attack. Her footing was bad, and the impacts drove her back a meter. Jack shouted again and swung an arm out in a looping underhand throw. Indigo energy crackled out from her fingers, cascading across the floor in a devastating shockwave. Miranda had seen that attack toss YMIR mechs around like children's toys. The Collector sidestepped it, insectoid wings buzzing to life and lifting it out of the way. Unguided, the energy smashed into the machinery behind it, shattering it.

"PITIFUL." The now flying Collector drove directly for Jack. Miranda whirled with it, weapon up and spitting fire. She knew she caught it a couple of times, she could see the flashes of impact, but she didn't stop it, and then it was between her and Jack and she couldn't shoot for risk of hitting the other woman. Jack apparently didn't share her compunction, and she sent two more lances of energy at the creature barreling down on her. It raised its hand, flaring its own biotics to deflect the first attack, and rolled out of the way of the second. That attack roared past it, and Miranda was forced to leap to the side to avoid it.

"Watch out!" She shouted at Jack. But the other woman was too busy dodging the Collector's attacks to pay attention. The creature was on her, swiping with elongated, claw like fingers outlined in dark fire. Jack dodged the first swipe, and managed to get interpose her armored forearm between herself and the follow up attack. She snarled as fingers wrapped around her arm, then she was wrenched from her feet as the Collector whirled and hurled her at Miranda. They collided in a flare of biotic energies as their barriers impacted each other, and they fell to the ground with Jack to top of her.

"YOU ARE VERMINE." The damn thing sounded smug. It retracted its wings and began to stalk forward, violent energy gathering in each of its hands. Miranda scrambled out from under Jack, bringing her weapon up and emptying it at the Collector. Her heart sank as it didn't even try to dodge. The shots chewed into it, shattering to dust against its barrier and it just kept coming. Her thermal clip overheated, and the weapon fell silent. Next to her, Jack had climbed to her knees, and she sent another shockwave at the Collector. The creature crossed its arms, using the energy it had been holding to deflect and disrupt Jack's attack. The biotic strike that should have devastated it split and splashed around it, ripping chunks out of the floor but leaving it totally unscaithed.

"Oh, fuck you!" Jack panted. Miranda couldn't blame her. At the pace Jack had been throwing around power, she'd have been exhausted too. She ejected the spent thermal clip from her gun and fished for another, she wasn't as used this armor as her usual jumpsuit though, and the usually smooth and practiced motion took an extra few seconds as she had to find the correct pouch. That was a few seconds to long, because even as she brought the reloaded weapon back on target, the Collector gathered a fresh strike in its fists.

"THIS WILL DESTROY Y-" It's mocking scorn was cut off by a thunderous roar, and its head abruptly rocked to to the side. Another blast caught it in its back, sending it stumbling forward. It whirled on it's new attacker. Tali'Zorah stood behind it, shotgun at her shoulder. The Collector flung its gathered energy at the Quarian and she ducked back behind the pod she'd been thrown on in the initial blast. The attack shattered the pod, and sent her stumbling back, but there wasn't enough power left to do much else. She hit it with another blast from her shotgun, then looked at Miranda.

"Don't just sit there, kill this Bosh'tet!" Her third shot only grazed the creature, chips of blackened armor cracking off and scattering to the ground but doing no appreciable damage. Miranda stared at those pieces. The shotgun blast had hit it, it's barrier was down! Miranda whirled on Jack. They didn't have long, and they needed to hit it with the heaviest punch they could.

"Jack," She ordered, "warp detonation. I'll lift, you hit."

For the briefest second it looked like the other woman was going to argue, to tell Miranda to go to hell, but then her frown shifted into a hungry smile and she nodded. "Fuck yeah."

That was good enough for her, and Miranda turned back to the Collector. It was advancing on Tali, back to them and more energy gathering in its hands. Miranda reached out and caught the bastard in a biotic grip. Lift was one of the more advanced techniques a biotic could learn, manipulating the gravity around a target to send it floating off the ground for a short time. Recently she'd been using it as a prelude to slamming them back into the ground with bone shattering force, but right now she didn't bother, because Jack was already reading the knock out punch. Lift might be one of the more advanced techniques, requiring precision and focus, but warp was one of the most basic. It was one of the first technique combat biotics learned, and anybody with the skill could do it, all it really took was raw power. The conflicting and rapidly changing energies of a warp field could tear most unprotected targets apart, and it was a solid offensive move in its own right. Combine it with another ongoing biotic field though, and things got messy. Still prone, Jack flung out her hand at the floating Collector, unleashing the single strongest warp ball Miranda had ever seen. The supercharged attack hit the creature, came into contact with Miranda's own lift field, and detonated in a thunderous explosion. The pieces of meat that dropped out of the dissipating azure cloud were hardly recognizable.

For a few seconds the only sound in the room was Jack and Miranda's labored panting. That had been closer than she wanted to admit. Miranda was going to have to increase the threat rating for those things. Gingerly, she pushed herself to her feet. Her barrier had taken most of the damage she'd suffered, but she was going to feel this fight in the morning. Beside her, Jack was finally sitting up. She offered the other woman her hand. Miranda still didn't like Jack. The unstable woman was still a threat to her position, and just a general pain in her ass, but she was glad she'd been here. Jack hesitated, then accepted her hand, letting Miranda pull her to her feet.

"YOU HAVE ONLY DELAYED THE INEVITABLE." Miranda almost dropped Jack as she whirled on the voice. The remains of the fallen Collector were levitating, its body dissolving into ash as the light retreated from its skin. For a moment she thought she saw the outline of something else in the light, then it exploded.

"Remains are highly combustible, interesting. Potentially useful?" Her eyes tracked a faint line of smoke back to where Mordin Solus still lay. The leg that had hit Jack was clearly broken, bent at an unnatural angle,. Despite that, he'd popped himself up on one arm, the other held his still glowing omni-tool out in front of him. Next to her, Jack whistled. Miranda didn't disagree. The leg had to hurt like a mother fucker, but there was no indication of it in his voice. She glanced back at the pile of ash that was all that was left of the Collector. Well, they wouldn't be taking that back with them. She finished hauling Jack to her feet, then crossed to Mordin.

"Professor, how bad is it?"

He looked up at her. "Leg is broken. Have already applied medi gel. Walking will be, problematic."

That figured. One of them would have to carry him out. She was torn. On one hand she needed to get Mordin back to the shuttle, but she also needed to find Shepard. Even as she thought that, her comm crackled to life. "Shepard to Miranda, what's your situation?"

She activated her own mic. "Miranda here, we're ok, but Professor Solus has a broken leg. What happened?"

"We kicked one hell of a beehive. Looks like we were right about this being a trap, the Turian signal was a fake. We beat back their first first attack, but we're cut off from you. Get Mordin back to the shuttle and hold your position there. EDI's found us an alternate route, we'll fight our way to you." He actually sounded excited at the prospect. She rolled her eyes.

"Understood." She wanted to say more, but she didn't. Now wasn't the time. He disconnected and she turned to look at her people. Jack had recovered her shotgun. She and Tali stood a little ways off from the pile of ash, pointedly not looking at it. "Alright." Miranda said, adopting a tone of command. "Shepard's team's cut off from us, so we're heading back to the shuttle. Tali, start getting that door open. Jack, watch the other door."

To her surprise, Jack listened to her, turning to face the door Shepard had left through while Tali started toward the other door. Miranda reached down and helped pull the professor to his feet. She slipped one arm under his injured side, taking some of his weight. He nodded his thanks to her, then slipped his customized Carnifax pistol off his belt and held it in his off hand. They might be battered, but they weren't out yet. Tali did something, and with a faint swoosh, the doors slid open.

Miranda raised her submachine gun. "Alright people, move out."

* * *

I used the butt of my rifle to knock a husk back as yet another group of them swarmed us. The pitiful creature stumbled backwards and I lashed out with a stomping kick that bent one of its knees almost completely backwards. By all rights, that should have taken it out of the fight. On any living enemy it would have, but the husk wasn't living, at least, not in any way that mattered, and even as it fell it tried to claw at me. I leaned away from the strike and I brought my leg swinging around and down in an axe kick that crushed its skull. That did the trick and the body just went limp.

A little off to my right, Grunt swung a massive hammer, sweeping aside a pair of husks that had tried to swarm him. That was their only real attack strategy after all. They'd come at us in packs, hoping to drown us in weight of numbers. If I'd just had the two other teammates I usually took with me on missions, it might even have been a problem. But not with six of us. Husks were only ever a problem when they could swamp you and overwhelm you with numbers, good tactics for a team of disposable shock troops, but useless against a team as large as them. The remaining husks tried anyway, I don't think they were intelligent enough not to, but my team cut them down before they could even reach us.

They might not have been a threat, but the husk attacks did manage to accomplish one thing, they slowed us down. All around me I could hear the ship coming back to life. This little ambush had been expertly planned from the very beginning. The fight with the Turians, the apparently false communications that brought us here, all of it designed to bring me here. If Joker and EDI were right, this was even the ship that had killed my old Normandy. At this point, it was starting to feel a little personal. More than anything I wanted to take my team and strike out for the bridge of this ship, to carve my way through the Collectors until there wasn't a single fucking bug person left on this damn ship. But I couldn't. They'd planned this too well. The tactical response to an ambush was to attack into it, disrupt the attackers and push them onto the back foot, and that was exactly what I wanted to do. The strategic response though, was to fall back. I might be able to beat the waves of drones they were throwing at me, but if this ship managed to get fully powered before I got out of here, then the new Normandy was going to go the way of the old.

So we continued on, following the path EDI had found back to the shuttle. Twice more we had to fend off groups of husks attempting to slow us down, but we pushed through. The drones gave us a little more trouble, but we worked the plan I'd come up with during the briefing. Since the Collector's all relied on barriers, I'd formed my squad into two firing teams. Two of the team would hammer away at the drone's barriers with automatic weapons, warp or concussive shot, and as soon as we took it down, either Garrus or Thane would kill it with a headshot. That way, the Collectors never got a chance to activate their fail safe, and we didn't have to deal with one of the super powered assholes. It had worked too, so far at least. It was a slower strategy than I'd have preferred, but in this case I was reminded of one of the first lessons I'd learned in combat. Slow was smooth, and smooth was fast. We were taking longer to kill the whole group than we might have if we spread out our attention, but we were going through each group faster overall.

The path we were on led us to another of the organic looking, wide open areas. It was the third or forth we'd run across, and I slowed the team down a little as we entered it. The Collector's had a nasty habit of flying in from unexpected angles in these rooms, and rushing through it would just get us into trouble. From our current position I could see a pair of L shaped ramps slanting down to a flat area, broken up by sparse cover. If I was the Collectors, this is where I'd put my main effort to stop somebody. The floor below was a killing field that had to be crossed to reach the door, and just because there wasn't currently any visible threat…

EDI's synthetic voice broke into my speculation. "Commander, I am opening a door on the far side of the room. There is significant heat build up in this vessel's engines. I'd advise you to expedite your progress."

Well, there went the slow and steady approach. I wasn't losing another Normandy. I took a step forward onto one of the ramps, then another one. When nothing happened I continued forward. The Collectors sprang their ambush just as I reached ground level. A handful of husks came barreling around the far corner of the room. They weren't the problem though. Behind them floated a fucking Praetorian.

"Oh, shit." Kasumi breathed next to me. I couldn't blame her. The hovering monstrosity pivoted towards us, and I swore it's four glowing eyes fixated on me, personally. Well, fuck. The creature screeched, the sound coming from the dozens of husk heads crammed into its carapace beneath the main pair of eyes. Then those eyes flared even brighter, and twin lines of lighting lashed towards me. I dove to the side, barely getting out of the way of that blast. The fucking laser eyes chewed a half meter frough in the ground where I'd been standing, and continued on through my team. Most of them got out of the way, but Grunt was too slow. The beams caught him as he tried to dodge, and the massive Krogan was picked up off the floor and hurled backwards to smash into the base of the landing we'd just descended.

"Scatter!." We'd planned for these guys too, and step one was get far enough apart that it couldn't focus on more than one of us. Step two was shoot it, alot. "Thane," I barked, "husks. Everybody else, kill that thing."

As he ran, the Drell assassin threw out a hand, smashing the closest of the husks to the ground with a throw field. The rest of my team brought weapons to bare on the Praetorian and started pouring fire into it. I gave it a few seconds, then barked the next order. "Concussive shot!"

This was also part of the plan, wear the bastard down with automatic fire, then hit it with attacks designed specifically to break barriers. My rifle bucked as I launched the high density round, and it's contrail was joined by another as Garrus added his shot, and then a third from behind me where Grunt was shoving himself out of the dent he'd made in the wall. All three projectiles hit the monster in rapid succession, hammering it with concussive force. Each of those shots dissipated their energy in a wave, striping their targets of the layered biotic fields that made up barriers. Three in a row like that shredded the Praetorian's defenses, and I saw the sparks and chips of armor fly as shots started to hit the armor directly.

It wasn't idle as we hammered it though, and even as it continued its inexorable drifting advance, those eyes glowed again, sending another line of crackling energy at Thane. He sidestepped it neatly enough, but the effort made his sniper shot go wide and the husk he'd been aiming at charged Samara. She caught the techno-zombie in a biotic grip and hurled it sideways into another one. Both of them went down in a tangled mess, and she returned her attention to the Praetorian.

"Pour it on!" I bellowed. I was firing may Mattock as fast as it could cycle, the rile's heavy rounds digging visible chunks out of the creature's organic armor. We didn't have long though, because if this thing was anything like the one I fought on Horizon then any second now it would- The monster surged forward and brought both its front legs crashing down at Garrus. He rolled out of the way of the strike, but not the follow up blastwave of biotic energy. Garrus was sent staggering backward, his shields stripped, momentarily dazed. The Praetorian lashed out with one of its legs, catching my friend full in the chest and flinging him backwards. Garrus crashed back to the ground a few meters away, rolling, skidding, and losing his rifle in the process. Amazingly, he kept his head through it all, ripping his pistol from his hip and firing from the ground even as he slid to a stop. The heavy shots pinged off the monsters restored barrier.

I swore. That's what I'd been afraid of. We were back to square one. There was one bit of good news, in its attempt to kill Garrus, the Praetorian had actually killed the last two husks, leaving it alone against my team. That was a bad place to be. I started to circle around to where the creature had come from. On the other side of it I could see Kasumi doing the same thing. She was pouring fire into the monster, her Locust spitting out a stream of hyper sonic darts that steadily chewed away at its defenses. I swapped to my own sub gun, wanting rate of fire over greater damage. The individual layers of a barrier could stop almost anything short of a sniper rifle dead in its tracks, but they were also fragile enough that smaller caliber rounds worked just as well as larger. This thing had to have hundreds of layers, and I wanted to shred them as fast as I could. Once we'd opened it back up to actual damage, we'd have to hammer it as hard and fast as possible. To that end, I keyed my comm.

"Samara, Kasumi, we're on the barrier. Grunt, Garrus, Thane, as soon as its down hit it with everything you have." As if it had heard me, the monster swung around towards me. Its freaking eyes started to glow again, and I readied myself to spring out of the way. The blast came, I dove, and energy ripped a trough ten centimeters deep in the floor where I'd been standing. I took the impact on my shoulder, turning my dive into a roll that let me come back up on one knee and continue to pour fire into the fucker. The Tempest ran through its entire thermal clip in a matter of seconds so I swapped in a fresh one. I triggered another concussive shot, hoping I'd timed it correctly. The shot shredded more of the Praetorian's defenses, but not enough. Samara came into view around the creature's right flank, her own assault rifle, an Alliance M-8, tucked into her shoulder and still hammering out rounds. She was concentrating her fire on the mass of husk skulls tucked into the creatures mid section. One of her shots got through, smashing one of the disgusting faces into a ruined mess. The Praetorian let out a screeching insectoid bellow and reared up, putting its armored belly between us and the faces. I grinned, it had a weakness. The Praetorian whirled on Samara, bringing down its front legs crashing down at the Justicar. She flung her hands out, biotic energy swirling around them, and she shot backwards, evading the strike. That gave me an idea. As the thump of Garrus's heavy pistol and the steady crack of Thane's sniper rifle joined the noise, I keyed a direct message to Samara.

"Throw Grunt."

She looked at me. I couldn't read her expression through the face mask. "What?"

"Throw Grunt at the Praetorian. On my count" She stared at me for a moment, then shrugged and nodded. I switched over to Grunt's private comm, shooting a glance at him as I did. He'd pulled himself out of the wall, and was charging back into the fight to bring his shotgun to bare. "Grunt, hammer time."

The Krogan didn't bother arguing or asking questions, he just dropped his shotgun and pulled the massive weapon from his back. The hammer had been a gift from Wrex, a present to congratulate him for killing the Thresher Maw during the insane Krogan adulthood ritual. Grunt loved the thing, and I had to admit, it was great for smashing husks. As it just so happened, I had a bunch of husk skulls that could use a good smashing. I started running toward him, one hand holding my Tempest out to spray fire at the Praetorian, the other held above my head fingers splayed. As I ran, the monster pivoted, eyes starting to glow again as it tracked me. I curled a finger, starting the countdown. The eyes flashed and lightning started to rip at the ground just behind my feet. I stayed just ahead of it, and as the countdown reached one I dove, straight at Grunt.

I hit the ground hard, and rolled to my back just as a slightly surprised Krogan flew over my head. Samara had caught Grunt in a biotic grip and catapulted him over me. He recovered quickly, and roared as he rocketed toward the Praetorian. The Collector creature roared back, rearing up in the start of its barrier generation sequence. Grunt didn't let it finish. He got his whole body into it starting low and swinging the massive hammer around in an arc that ended on the Praetorian's upraised mass of faces. The titanic blow, aided by Samara's biotics, hit, well, like a hammer, shattering husk skulls and smashing the monster's attempt to reconstitute its barrier. The gathering biotic energy released in a shockwave that threw Grunt a good ten meters backwards, sending him crashing back to the ground back where he'd started his charge. He'd done his job though. The Praetorian thrashed about for a few seconds, clearly in pain, screeching and scrambling at the air. Finally, it drove its own front legs into the gaping hole my Krogan had smashed in its face. Instantly its started to disintegrate, and in moments it was gone, leaving behind nothing but a rapidly dissipating cloud of ash. From his second crater of the day, Grunt bellowed his triumph, thrusting his hammer into the sky in mockery of his defeated foe.

"Well that's something you don't see everyday." Kasumi quipped.

I shoved myself to my feet. I wanted to take a second to catch my breath, but over my comm EDI reminded me that the ship was almost at full readiness. There wasn't time for us to wait around. "We're not out of this yet." I growled. We waited just long enough for Garrus and Grunt to pick up their dropped weapons, then started out again, EDI feeding me directions. A couple more groups of Collectors tried to stop us, but after using a Krogan cannonball to smash a Praetorian, a few groups of drones were fairly anticlimactic. We made it back to the Shuttle through a door that had been closed when we arrived. Jacob and Zaeed were still there, as were the bodies of several husks. Miranda and her team however, weren't there.

I was just reaching to key my comm when the doors we'd originally went through cycled open. Tali came through them, one arm supporting Mordin who was dragging one leg. She hurried him forward and Garrus and I ran out to meet her, the rest of the team fanning out into a firing line behind us. "Miranda, Jack?" I asked as we skidded to a stop next to them.

"Right behind us." Tali said, passing Mordin off to Garrus. "They delayed the Collectors long enough for me to Mordin back here." Even as she spoke I could hear the approaching sound of gunfire. Moments later Jack sprinted into view, followed closely by Miranda. A tension I hadn't realized I was holding released and I let out a sigh. They were going to make it. Then a group of husks came boiling out of the corridor I'd come through. They surged towards the two women, already between them and us. I shouted something and snapped my rifle to my shoulder, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough. My shots dropped one of husks, but the rest boiled towards the two women. In seconds they'd be on them. I started to run forward, rifle still firing. I had to do something.

Then I heard Jack shout, and a shockwave rippled across the ground from her. It hit the massed husks like a wrecking ball, tossing them a meter in the air and leaving them to hang for a second. Miranda's voice followed Jacks, and one of the husks in the center of the group suddenly exploded with azure energy. The detonation scattered the remaining creatures and Jack and Miranda sprinted through them. They waved frantically at me, and over my comm I heard Miranda's voice. "Don't just stand there! Move!"

They tore past me, and turned to follow them. In a mad scramble we piled back aboard the shuttle, and EDI punched it before the doors closed. This wasn't the leisurely flight we'd taken to get to the ship either. Acceleration pushed us against one and other as we rocketed back to the Normandy. I was out of the shuttle before we'd even fully landed and tore ass to the elevator.

"EDI? Whats going on?" I demanded as I waited for the fucking lift to rise.

"The enemy vessel has come fully back online. Mr. Moreau is attempting evasive maneuvers."

The doors slid open and I sprinted up to the cockpit. Joker was muttering to himself while his hands flew over the controls. A brilliant stream of all too well remembered golden light flashed past overhead and I instinctively ducked. That light had killed my last ship. "Joker-" I started.

"Not now, Commander." He interrupted me. "EDI, get us the hell-" The entire ship shook. I clamped my hands on the back of Joker's flight seat to keep from falling. A dozen lights flashed amber and starting blinking insistently. Joker swore.

"EDI?" I demanded.

"Minor hullbreach on decks 2 & 3\. I have already rerouted all systems. Would you like me to initiate a jump?"

"YES!" Joker and I shouted in unison.

"Please state a destination."

"Not here!" Joker spat, throwing the ship into a looping roll to bring us up around another of those blasts. The light from the Collector's weapon was blinding for a moment, and I had to shut my eyes against it. When I reopened them the starfield outside the viewports had been replaced by FTL.

I let out a sigh and thumped Joker on the shoulder. He grunted and looked up at me, rubbing the spot gingerly. "Minor hullbreach?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said defensively, "minor, as in, not major. You can tell by how we've gotten way and you aren't floating out in space again."

I briefly considered hitting him again, but decided against it. Joker really was one of the best pilots in the galaxy. If we'd gotten hit, it wasn't his fault. Of course, depending on how much damage we'd taken, I might change my mind. "Drop us out of FTL in a few minutes and get us heading back to Illium. And get me a full damage report."

Joker nodded, and I left him to it, heading back towards the conference room. Unless I missed my guess…

"Commander," EDI said, "The Illusive Man is waiting for you on the QEC." Yup, right on time. I replayed what the AI had told me about the Turian message being a fake. EDI'd picked up the forgery using Cerberus detection protocols, protocols that The Illusive Man had written himself. He'd known it was a trap, and again he hadn't said anything. I set my jaw . I'd be happy to talk to him, there were a few things I wanted to say myself.

"I'll be right there." I growled.


	15. Chapter 14

"EDI told us the distress call originated with the Collectors," I jabbed my finger at the Illusive Man's image. "You betrayed us!"

He shook his head like I was an unruly and disappointing student. "We're at war. Every minute we waste is another one we give the Collectors to prepare."

I wanted to punch him. No, I wanted to take that insufferable little cigarette of his and shove it in his fucking bionic eye. He'd been like this every time I'd talked to him, the stern but sophisticated leader, always in command, always clearly better informed, always so fucking smug. He looked and acted like he knew better than me, had more than me, and the fact that it was basically true only made it worse. I knew that I should be backing down a bit, letting him think he could mollify me, and earning myself a little more trust in the process; but fuck that! I'd been ambushed because he'd decided I didn't need to know crucial information. Try as much as I might, I couldn't rein in my anger that easily.

"I know the stakes," I growled. "But we're supposed to be on the same side," I thrust a finger at him, "and I can't trust you."

"Without that information, we don't find the Collector homeworld, and you and every other human might as well be dead. I needed the Collectors to think they had you trapped, so I made the choice to withhold that information. I trusted you to deal with the situation." He took a drag on his cigarette. "And you did. We got the information we needed, Shepard. The Collectors weren't expecting EDI. While you kept their focus, she was able to pull a large amount of data from their systems."

While I'd kept their focus? "You mean while my team and I were fighting our way out of an ambush?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, fine, while you and your people were fighting off an ambush. EDI pulled the data we needed from the Collector's computers. It would appear the Collectors, and Reapers we assume, use an advanced IFF system to permit passage through the Omega 4 relay."

"Great." I scoffed. "Now all we need to do is find a Reaper and take their IFF. You wouldn't happen to have one sitting around would you?"

"As a matter of fact..."

I narrowed my eyes, voice going flat. "What?"

"An Alliance Science team recently determined that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon was actually the impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon." He took a pull from the glass on the arm of his chair, letting me wait while he finished the drink then put it back. "A very old mass accelerator. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us track the flight path of the intended target: a 37 million-year-old derelict Reaper." With anybody else, that last line would have been delivered with a smug little smile, maybe a twinkle in the eye as they unveiled their great treasure. Not him though. There was no detectable emotion beyond simple resolve in his voice. "We found it trapped in the gravity well of a brown dwarf."

He took another drag on his cigarette, the corners of his mouth turned up every so slightly. The bastard was enjoying this. He blew the smoke out, tapped some ash off the cigarette, and waited. Clearly, he wanted me to say something, to act all impressed with his big revelation and let him string out the information so he could prove just how much more he knew than me. Prick.

I rolled my eyes and gave him what wanted, almost. "What's the catch?"

It hadn't been the question he'd expected and his smug smile slipped a fraction. "Excuse me?"

I leaned back and folded my arms. I was done playing his games. From day one, he'd been stringing me along, and I was fucking tired of it. Under other circumstances, I might have been more diplomatic about it, or at least more concerned he'd decide to just cut his losses and blow the _Normandy_ to pieces. But fuck it. He needed to know I was serious. "You heard me. I'm done running blindly after every scrap of information you feel like dealing out. I risked my team going into that ship. You might think the risk was worth it. Fuck, you might even be right. I don't care. I'm not doing it again. This time you tell me everything you know, and you send me every record or recording you have."

His eyes narrowed, but after a few seconds, he nodded ever so slightly. "Fine, Shepard, though at the moment there isn't much to tell you. My team only arrived a few days ago. I will keep Miranda appraised of their findings and as soon as they uncover the IFF I'll notify you."

I deflated a little bit. I'd expected him to tell me to fuck off, not to give me what I wanted. Sure, he'd sidestepped it a little bit, making me go through Miranda to get the information I wanted, but still, it was more than I'd anticipated. Then a new thought hit me. "Wait, how long have you known about this?"

"A few weeks. It took time to get the team ready."

That lit a different fire in me and my anger latched onto it. "You've been sitting on a Reaper corpse for a few weeks and you didn't tell me?"

He raised an admonishing eyebrow. "Would it have helped you in some way?"

"Hell yeah, it would have," I spat, "I could send the Alliance its coordinates. Hell, I could send the Council after it. It's proof that what I've been saying is true. Its proof the Reapers are real. If they get a look at it-"

"They got a look at one, Shepard," For the first time I heard something like actual emotion in his voice, he sounded disgusted. "They got a very clear look at one while it was ripping their fleets apart. And after that, they got a look at all the pieces as they took it apart. The Alliance and Council aren't ignorant, they're in denial. I'm not going to waste this opportunity in a useless effort. Once we've gotten everything we need from it, I'll send the Alliance a tip, but only once my team is done. In the meantime, I suggest you tell your team I didn't risk their lives for nothing."

He disconnected and I was left in darkness. For a few moments, I just stood there, fists clenching and unclenching as I tried to get a handle on my anger. That had been a lot less cathartic than I'd wanted it to be, but that was probably for the best. If I gave into what I really wanted to do and ripped him a new one, it would kill any chance I had of getting any closer to him and his organization. And unfortunately, the more I learned about the Collectors, and Reapers by extension, the more I was coming to realize I was going to need an organization like Cerberus to deal with them. He was probably right about the Alliance and Council, and even if he wasn't they were both huge bureaucracies. They had the resources sure, but getting the kind of access to them I needed would take years of ladder climbing and politicking. And for some reason, I didn't think I had that kind of time. Cerberus was still my best source of resources and reinforcement, unfortunately. My anger didn't fade, but my recognition of the necessity of the situation gave me the anchor I needed to leash it. With that done I was able to focus that energy on planning for the future.

As much of an asshole as The Illusive Man was, and he was a truly impressive specimen of the breed, he was still my strongest ally in this fight. For now anyway. The conflict between us was still inevitable, and he knew it as well as I did, but right now neither of us were in position to start that fight. Which meant, as much as I hated it, I'd have to start playing nicer with the fuck-head. Until I was ready to make the first move, I needed to keep being useful to him. I doubted he'd make his move until after I'd taken care of the Collectors, but once that was done, the enemy keeping us together would be gone. If I didn't do something, he'd have the chance to start the fight, which in this kind of battle was almost the same thing as winning the fight. So, until I was ready, I'd just have to step up my efforts to convince him I was still on his side. Oh, and stay alive long enough for that conflict to actually happen, and the first step for that was making it back to civilization without losing any more of my ship.

"EDI," I called into the darkness "Where are we?"

A second later a blue light filled the conference room as the AI's holographic form projected from the table. "Lt. Moreau has us in a series of short FTL jumps to shake any pursuit by the Collector Vessel. Our current location is approximately six light years from-"

I cut her off. "You know what doesn't matter. Tell Joker to make one more jump then to set course for Illium. They have full-scale shipyards, and Liara can probably get us bumped up in the queue." A sudden wave of exhaustion hit me as the adrenaline from the fight and 'discussion' with The Illusive Man wore off, and my lack of sleep caught up with me. I only blearily heard EDI acknowledge the instructions. I needed to sleep. I stepped out of the conference room, turned left and almost ran into the door to the armory when it failed to open before me. The display blinked a rapid and violent amber, flashing the hull breach warning. Right. I turned around and went back the other way, going through Mordin's lab to return to the CIC. Kelly was at her station and she gave me a concerned look as I passed her on the way to the lift.

"Commander," She asked, "is there anything I can do for you?"

The last remnants of my anger and adrenaline still smoldered in me, and I could think of several things she could do for me to help quell them. "Actually yes, Kelly, there is something you can do for me."

Something of what I was thinking must have come out in my voice because her eyes got a little bit wider, and her breathing seemed to speed up a bit. "Anything, Commander."

Dear god, it was almost too easy. My mind treated me to the image of her on her knees, that same excited smile looking up at me as I unbuttoned my pants and… another wave of fatigue hit me and my legs grew a bit shaky at the idea of more physical activity, no matter how pleasurable. I gave the enticing, perky, eager woman a tired smile and said, "Please ask Miranda to report to my cabin when she has a complete damage report."

Then I walked past the slowly deflating yeoman and took the lift up to my cabin, regretting every step.

* * *

Miranda fidgeted with her datapad as she rode the lift up to Shepard's cabin. It was a generic model, not the highly customized one she was used to. That, like the rest of her gear, had been in her office. It was probably still there actually, as most of her furniture was vacuum rated, but she wasn't. Sure, the new armor she'd worn on the Collector Ship was rated for zero-g, but she didn't exactly feel like testing it just to grab her personal datapad. She'd recover her personal effects once they'd gotten the ship safely into a repair facility. For the time being she was just happy she'd had a change of clothes running through the ship's laundry system. The armor had been great at stopping shots and keeping her alive when the possessed Collector had been slamming her around, but gore splattered combat gear wasn't exactly comfortable. So, while EDI had prepared a report on the damages to the ship, she'd taken the opportunity to shower and change into the fresh clothes.

The elevator beeped softly, and the doors slid open, letting her out into Shepard's foyer. She mentally reviewed the damages as she crossed the two meters to his door, then hesitated. Miranda wasn't totally sure what she'd find beyond those doors. She'd seen Shepard's expression when he tore out of the shuttle. And she'd gone over the recording of his conversation with The Illusive Man. He was furious, possibly even more than he'd been about Horizon. She'd seen how he'd worked out his frustrations after that mission, and she wasn't sure that bothered her. As much as she hated to admit it, the Collector ship had scared her. Miranda wasn't a stranger to violence or danger, she'd seen and done things that would make most people sick, but that ship? That had been danger on a level she'd only experienced once before: the first time she'd watched the recordings from Sovereign's attack on the Citadel. It was the fear that she wasn't enough, that there was nothing a person, any person, could do against something that overwhelming powerful. Logically she knew that was wrong, that Shepard had stopped Sovereign, and that they'd escaped the ship in no small part thanks to her own actions, but it didn't matter. The vastness of that ship swallowed her attempts to rationalize it and consumed her with a feeling of insignificance that made her actions seem petty and meaningless. In the face of those emotions, in the grip of that fear, the idea of violent, life-affirming sex was more than a little appealing.

But on the other hand, she didn't want to set that kind of precedent with Shepard. She refused to let herself just be his booty call, his way of getting himself off or working out his frustrations. She was more than that, and she needed him to acknowledge that. Miranda needed to maintain the control in their relationship, and letting him do to her what he'd done to Jack would undermine all of her previous efforts, regardless of how good it might feel. So she took a moment, schooled her thoughts and expression back into cool professionalism. Composed, she tapped the open command.

The doors slid apart, revealing Shepard sitting slumped in his desk chair. The man looked exhausted, his whole body sagging into the seat. She knew he'd been pushing himself, she'd seen him taking the stims on the shuttle ride onto the Collector Ship. Despite that, he was still alert, and he pushed himself to his feet as she crossed the threshold, giving her a tired smile.

"Miranda," even his voice was tired, "how bad is it?"

No flirtation, no snark, just down to business, he really wasn't faking this. He was in no condition to do anything remotely like what he'd done to Jack. Relief, tinged with a hint of disappointment washed over her, and some of her tension slid away. She stepped fully into the room, letting the door close behind her. "Bad enough," she admitted, "but nothing that can't wait. You look like shit, Commander. Maybe we should do this later?"

"Flatterer," he drawled. "I'm fine."

She cocked an eyebrow. "You can barely stand. EDI told me we're headed back to Illium. This can wait until then."  
He shook his head. "I won't be able to sleep until I've gone over this." He glanced down at the hand he was using to brace himself against the desk, bleary surprise registering as he did. "But maybe you're right about the standing thing. Maybe we should sit?"

He led the way out of his office area to the small sitting area across from his bed, only slightly unsteady on the stairs separating the work and living portions of the room. Miranda let him sit first, then took her own place on the other side of the couch, keeping a professional distance between them. She was here in her capacity as executive officer after all, not whatever their other relationship was, and she wanted that to be perfectly clear. Either Shepard got the message, or he was too tired to notice because he didn't say anything about it, just holding out his hand for the datapad.

"Like I said," she started, handing him the pad, "it was bad, but not catastrophic. The mission was a success, or at least as much of one as we could have hoped for. Mordin broke his leg, but that was our only serious injury, and EDI completely ransacked their systems. It will take a while to sort the data, even for EDI, but it looks like we're going to have a little time. The shot that hit us was glancing, but still did a fair bit of damage. The armory and my office are both open to vacuum. None of the critical systems run through the exterior hull, so the damage is actually fairly limited. A good shipyard should have us back in order in under a week."

"That's better than I expected," he mused, glancing over the information on the datapad. "I'm sorry about your office, by the way." A little more life flickered behind his eyes, and the corner of his mouth twisted up slightly. "You're welcome to stay here…"

That was more like him, she sat up a little straighter. "I don't think would send the right message, Commander."

"And why is that, Miranda?" His voice still sounded tired, but he put the datapad down and looked directly at her. "Jack already outed us to the crew. Why bother hiding anything now?"

The question sent a wholly unexpected flutter through her belly, and she clamped down on it before it could show on her face. "Well, Jack, for one thing. That seems like it might get… awkward."

His cocky grin froze, then turned down into a pensive frown. "True," he admitted.

"The crew needs to be able to think of us as individual people." She continued, "If they have to come here to talk to me, then they might as well just go straight to you. It would undermine my authority. I can spend a few days bunking with the crew. Besides, wouldn't you worry about me seducing you into joining Cerberus?"

"I certainly wouldn't complain about the seducing," he leered. Then his expression grew pensive and he leaned away from her. "As for joining Cerberus… I am not as sure about that as I once was."

Miranda froze. That was, unexpected. She started to ask a question, then stopped, all but holding her breath as she waited for him to elaborate. For a few seconds, he didn't say anything, looking past her at something only he could see. When he did speak, it was slowly, like he was feeling out each word before he said them.

"What we saw today, it was a wake-up call, Miranda. I'm not sure I can beat something like that alone. I still don't agree with the Illusive Man's methods, but right now he's the only person taking this threat seriously. I'm not saying I'm going to up and join Cerberus, but…"

He trailed off, and she just stared at him. She knew what he was feeling, she'd felt it too aboard that ship, but she'd never have expected him to admit it, least of all to her. They'd come far, but this was beyond her wildest hopes. She didn't know what to say, not wanting to say something that might make him realize what he'd said or who he'd said it to. For a moment they sat in silence, then he shook his head and gave her a tired smile. "So, what would you suggest we do next, XO?"

She cocked an eyebrow at the rather blatant topic change but didn't hesitate to answer. If he really was thinking about dropping his feud with Cerberus, she'd have plenty of time to find out more, for now, there were more pressing concerns.

"Well, I think we've adequately established that the _Normandy_ can't go toe to toe with that ship and expect to win. So while we're already in drydock, might as well take the opportunity to make a few upgrades."

His face lit up, and he nodded. "Garrus has a contact in the Hierarchy, and he thinks he can get us a pair of Thanix Cannons. They're based off the weapons Sovereign had, and unless I miss my guess, its the same type of weapon that Collector ship was using."

Miranda knew the weapons, she hadn't know Vakarian could get his hands on some though. Cerberus had acquired the design a few months ago, but only after the _Normandy_ 's main systems had already been installed and the Illusive Man had decided against delaying the construction to replace the guns. They'd be a serious upgrade to the ship's offensive power, and it was fitting with his character that they were the first thing Shepard would think of. She had several other upgrades in mind though, and she slid down the couch until she was sitting next to him so she could pull up a file on the datapad.

"The cannons are a good idea," she said, showing him the file, "but I was also thinking we could upgrade the armor…"

For the next few minutes, they shared ideas, paging together through Miranda's files. Shepard had been talking to some of the crew, and he had a few suggestions she hadn't considered. To her surprise, Miranda found herself relaxing. The nervous energy of the day's fight and her expectations about why Shepard had called her to his room started to fade away, replaced by a quiet contentment. This was what a good XO – Captain relationship looked like, the two of them working together to solve problems and address concerns, not the low key mistrust and subterfuge interspersed with passionate sex their relationship had been so far. Then it abruptly fell apart.

They'd just agreed on upgrading the _Normandy'_ s fuel bunkers while they were doing everything else when the door chime sounded. Miranda quirked an eyebrow at Shepard who shrugged and stood up. She started to follow him, then froze as she heard the door slide open and a familiar voice called out.

"That was some shit, wasn't it?"

The words had a faint slur to them, but the voice was clearly Jack's. Miranda shot a look Shepard, whose expression made it clear he hadn't expected the other woman either. A moment she was caught between emotions, the contentment she'd been feeling at her cooperation with Shepard clashing with the surge of adrenaline and anger the other woman's sudden appearance elicited. The anger reignited the flame of her earlier fear and anxiety, and by the time Jack put her foot on the first step down from the office, those emotions had fixated themselves on the younger woman.

"I mean, can you believe the fucked up shit they were doing on that ship. I need a big drink and a hard fuck to get that shit out of my head. Think you can-" Her gaze tracked past Shepard to Miranda and it was her turn to freeze. She'd changed back into her usual Jacket and straps outfit, and she held a bottle in one hand, a third of its contents already gone. Her eyes went wide, then narrowed as Miranda stepped out from around the table.

"Of fucking course, she's here!" Jack threw the bottle against the wall in disgust. The sturdy polymer survived the impact and it bounced then rolled away. The younger woman ignored it, throwing her hands in the air and stalking towards Shepard's bed. "I couldn't just get wasted and laid, no, that was too much to fucking ask for apparently." She whirled and glared at Shepard. "The fuck did you call her up for? Think she'll suck your cock better than me? Or did you just get so pissy at the Illusive Man that you wanted to fuck his little mouth-piece in revenge?"

"We're working." Miranda snapped before Shepard could answer. "Some of us actually have jobs to do."

Jack rolled her eyes and gave her the finger. "Oh, blow it up your ass, cheerleader."

"Excuse me?"

"Fine, you're excused, now get out. I want to fuck Shepard and unless you want another show, you aren't needed." Jack started to turn away from her, dismissing Miranda as if she didn't matter.

"Ok, bitch," Miranda growled, surging forward, "I think I've had enough of your shit, Jack." Even as she said it, she realized it was true. She was done with this psycho slut. She was done worrying about her relationship with Shepard. Done with her insubordination. Done with her quips insinuating that Miranda fucked her way into her job. Just. Bloody. Done. She was going to put the bitch in her place right now, and she was going to enjoy doing it. Her hands started to glow as she gathered power into them.

"No." The single word lashed out in a tone of command so total that both women froze in place for a second. Shepard got between them, and the tired man Miranda had been working with less than a minute before was gone. In his place was a man of pure authority, a furious king stepping between squabbling subjects. "I'm the one who's had enough. Enough of both of your bullshit. Either you two work this shit out right now, or I'm kicking your asses off at Illium." He glared first at Jack, who glared right back, and then at Miranda. "Both of you are important, to the mission and to me personally, but I mean it. If you can't find a way to work together, you're both done. I'm not letting a repeat of what happened on the shuttle today happen, ever again. Do you understand me?"

His words hit Miranda like a physical slap. Nobody, not even the Illusive Man, had ever given her a dressing down like that. Where the fuck did Shepard get off thinking he could? Who the hell did he think he was! He… he was the commander. He was the man who had to lead a group of disparate soldiers in the fight against the creatures who'd built that ship. He was the one who had to make their mission work regardless of what it cost to do it. Hell, if she'd been in his place she'd have already kicked Jack off the ship, and she'd probably be dead. Much as she hated to admit it, Jack had saved her during the fight against the possessed Collector. If she hadn't intercepted that first attack, Miranda wouldn't have been able to defend herself against it and it would have burned a hole right through her. That didn't wipe the slate clean between them, but it was something. She released her grip on her biotics, letting the gathered energy dissipate. The anger and frustration didn't fade with it, but at least now she wasn't about to blow the other woman into the aquarium. "I understand, commander."

Shepard inclined his head to her, then looked back at Jack. "Jack?"

The other woman looked like she was going to argue for a moment, her own fists still glowing with energy. When the hell had that happened? Miranda had totally missed it. Then, with a disgusted noise, she threw her hands up, releasing the energy in an unfocused wave that splashed against the ceiling without actually doing any damage. She turned away from them, then whirled back and pointed a finger at Shepard. "Fine, but don't expect me to like the cheerleader."

Shepard folded his arms. "I expect you," he looked back at Miranda for a second, "both of you, to work this out. Neither one of you is leaving this cabin until I'm satisfied we aren't going to do this again in a week, not if you still want to be part of my team anyway." The emphasis left little confusion about his meaning.

Miranda had to be careful here. Losing Shepard's trust, especially after the breakthrough they'd had moments before was not acceptable. She took a deep breath, if staying part of Shepard's inner circle meant working out her issues with Jack, fine, she could do that. It wouldn't be as cathartic as throwing the disrespectful little bitch around a bit, but it would be doable.

Jack had apparently gone through a similar internal debate. She didn't look happy, but she nodded to Shepard. "Alright," he said, stepping out from between them, "maybe this time we try talking this out?"

"Fine," Miranda said, "why don't we start with what her problem is with me."

"My problem," Jack spat, "is right there on your fucking chest."

Miranda glanced down. "My breasts? Don't tell me this all just cause you're self-conscious about your tits."

"Not your fucking tits, idiot. You. Are. Fucking. Cerberus. Maybe literally. I don't know what you and the Illusive Man's relationship is, but that's not important. You wear their logo right over your fucking massive rack so the first thing anybody sees when they look at you is the symbol of the people who abducted and tortured me for over a fucking decade. It's all over this fucking ship, and every time you give me a fucking order, you do it wearing that goddamn symbol." Jack was literally shaking by the time she said the last words, and the venom, the pure unrestrained rage and pain in her voice took Miranda off guard.

Jack had always been a bitch, always wore her pain like a suit of armor, and it had never actually occurred to Miranda what being on a Cerberus ship might be like for her. She'd assumed her antagonism was because she was a threat to her relationship with Shepard and because that was just who Jack was, but that wasn't it at all. She'd had to infiltrate a few of her father's business and buildings, and seeing his logo or name always brought back uncomfortable memories. It must be so much worse for Jack, being on a ship where almost every person she interacted with was part of that group. Suddenly she understood why Shepard had started wearing an old Alliance uniform as soon as he'd been able to pick one up. She'd thought it was just to spite the Illusive Man, but it must have been for Jack's benefit. A little bit of her anger simmered down. The realizations didn't excuse Jack from being a colossal bitch, but it made her antagonism towards Miranda make more sense.

"Jack," she started, "I never rea-"

"No shit you never realized! Why would you? You're Miranda fucking Lawson. I did my research, especially after Shepard gave me access to the files. You've been Cerberus's golden child for years. Doing everything you're told. The Illusive Man's right-hand woman, never straying from the party line. Fuck, they've even got you wearing their logo on a slutty outfit, like a perfect little cheerleader…"

Jack's words hit like physical blows and the sympathy that had started to quench her rage evaporated. She wasn't sure if it was Jack's use of the word perfect, her comment about her clothes, or just the whole thing together, but her anger flared right back up, immolating her restraint and setting fire to her blood. Her clenched fists started to glow again and she took a step towards Jack.

"Fuck you," she snarled, "you don't know the first bloody thing about my life. You think you're the only one with problems? Think you have a monopoly on shitty childhoods? You're wrong. Yeah, I've worked with Cerberus. I spent the years after I broke out of my fucked up situation making a damn difference in the galaxy. I've stopped bombs, invasions, and terrorist plots while you robbed back system colonists and fucked whoever came along."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shepard move forward, eyes wide and hands up as if to get between them. Her arm flashed out, and she released the energy she'd gathered into it. It was probably the weakest throw field she'd ever used, barely more than a stiff shove, but in his exhausted state, a stiff shove was all it took to knock Shepard back and send him sprawling on to the couch. Miranda never took her eyes off Jack. "Stay out of this, Shepard, we're talking."

Neither her outburst or what she'd done to Shepard seemed to phase Jack in the slightest. She stepped right up to Miranda, eyes hard and mouth set in a determined line. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you cheerleader?"

"No, Jack, I know it."

The crazy bitch's mouth curled into a sneer. "Prove it."

They both moved at the same time. Jack's hands came up, indigo and azure light roiling around them, ready to unleash raw destruction. Miranda's hands were faster and had a shorter distance to go. Her fingers locked around the edges of the other woman's jacket and she pulled Jack towards her. Miranda knew she couldn't fight Jack, not unless she wanted to destroy Shepard's cabin to do it. She also knew she couldn't let this idiocy continue, Shepard had made that clear. She'd also learned a few things about Jack from watching her interactions with Shepard. When it came to conflict, Jack only had two ways of dealing with it, and with fighting off the table, that only left… _Violent, life-affirming sex it is then_. She kissed Jack.

The younger woman froze, her entire body going stiff as Miranda's lips pressed violently against hers. For a few heartbeats she didn't react, and Miranda began to worry she'd miscalculated. A Then a growl rose from Jack's throat, her mouth parting and her tongue flicking hungrily at Miranda's lips. That hunger found a similar need within her, and her own tongue slid out to meet Jack's. It wasn't a loving kiss. It wasn't soft, or tentative, or exploratory, it was demanding. A hand slid up to the base of Miranda's skull and dragged her deeper into the kiss. They stood there, bodies pressed against one and other, lips locked and tongues battling.

A new heat rose in Miranda, harnessing the fires of her anger to a new purpose. She wrenched at Jack's jacket, ripping it off her shoulders and forcing Jack to release her neck so she could let it drop to the floor. Jack's hands went almost immediately back on Miranda, scrabbling for the clasps and zippers of her jumpsuit. Miranda worked just as energetically, but with focus, fingers questing for the fasteners of Jack's 'top'. Neither of them broke the kiss, working by touch alone as they fought to undress each other. Miranda had an advantage, her jumpsuit was designed for combat, Jack's outfit wasn't. Her fingers find the place where the canvas straps met at the base of Jack's neck and she wrenched at it. That choked Jack, and she broke the kiss to stare wide-eyed at Miranda. She continued to pull on the straps, forcing the other woman to arch backward, and thrusting her chest towards Miranda. Her hand snaked up between them, and she got her fingers under the crisscross in the straps on Jack's chest. With a growl, she hauled on both of them. It was too much for the strained fasteners and they snapped, leaving Jack completely exposed.

Miranda didn't get a chance to exploit her victory though. Jack found one of the clasps of her jumpsuit's front panel, and in a mirror of Miranda's own actions, she ripped it off. It didn't get her everything she apparently hoped it would, and with a frustrated snarl, she started jerking at the zipper, struggling to fully expose Miranda. She let her, going for a different prize. Starting at her neck, Miranda started aggressively kissing a line down towards Jack's breasts. The hand that held the remnants of the straps let go, slipping lower. She popped the button on her pants, then slid her hand inside. Jack moaned as Miranda ground her fingers against her clit through her panties. The hands on her chest started working even harder to rip the zipper off. Something gave under the pressure and suddenly the entire front panel of Miranda's jumpsuit fell away. She powered through, slipping her fingers lower, palm still working on the clit and fingers rubbing at her entrance. Miranda took a certain degree of pride at just how wet the other woman's panties were. Her plan was working.

Now that her top was open though, Jack wasn't just letting her have her way. One hand impatiently pulled the open jumpsuit back and off Miranda's shoulders. The other hand slipped behind her, under the back of her jumpsuit and started working the claps of her bra. In moments she had it off, and with an eager noise, she shoved the bra out of the way. Miranda's breasts bounced free. Jack slapped one. She didn't have a great angle, so it barely even stung, but the pain galvanized Miranda, and she replied by biting Jack's shoulder. Her nails dug into the skin of the opposite shoulder. She stopped rubbing Jack's pussy so she could wrap that arm around her hips. Another slap sent a fresh surge of motivation through her, and with a surge of energy, she shoved. Jack hadn't been expecting it and wasn't able to stop Miranda spinning her around and shoving her face into Shepard's bed.

Miranda moved the hand from Jack's shoulder to the back of her neck, and with the other wrenched at her belt and pants, pulling them down to expose Jack's ass. She'd seen it before, she'd seen basically every inch of this woman through her cameras, but it was different in person. She didn't have Miranda's ass, but it was strong, well-formed, just begging for Miranda's hand. The first slap resounded around the room, and Jack's muffled cry was more of surprise than of pain.

"So the cheerleader thinks she can play rough." Jack squirmed against Miranda's restraining hand. She rolled her hips a bit back towards Miranda. "Go on, show me what you got, princess." Miranda spanked her again. Jack laughed. "That the best you've got? Come on! I've met Volus that hit harder." Miranda slammed her hand down again. "Mmm, I almost felt that. Come on, bitch, you were telling me how much better you are than me," she sneered back at Miranda, face still pressed into Shepard's bedding, "fucking prove it!"

Slap. Slap. SLAP. The trio of rapid impacts left bright red marks on the few patches of undyed skin left on Jack's ass but did nothing to wipe that bloody sneer away. Miranda knew Jack was fucking with her, but fuck if it wasn't working. This had started as an effort to put the bitch in her place without losing Shepard's trust, but now it was something else. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she was going to fucking win it. Jack apparently had other plans. As Miranda brought her hand back for another slap, the smaller woman pushed up from the bed. The sudden movement broke Miranda's grip on her neck and she shoved her hips back against Miranda, knocking a few steps. Jack spun in the space her shove generated, turning back to face Miranda again. She was breathing quickly, and rise and fall dragged Miranda's attention to her breasts. The tattoos, the sweat, the heavy breathing, all combined to give Jack a primal, dangerous beauty Miranda couldn't help but appreciate. The deep purple lipstick she wore was smudged, only adding to the image.

Those dark lips curled up in a sneer, "Not bad, cheerleader." She hopped back onto the bed before pulling her knees to her chest and sliding her pants all the way off. Slowly she lowered her legs back to the ground, spreading them as she did. She sat there, leaning back a bit on the bed, and displayed herself to Miranda. Her sneer was still firmly in place, and her eyes smoldered with barely restrained lust. One eyebrow crooked and she ran her gaze brazenly over Miranda's half off clothes. "You gonna finish what I started?" She mocked, "Or do I need to do it for you?"

Wordlessly Miranda shrugged out of her jumpsuit's top, letting it fall around her waist. The bra went next, casually discarded off to one side. Jack made appreciative noises as she did. "Mmm, cheerleader, I'll admit I thought there was some padding, but turns out you're all real! Must be a hit at all the Cerberus recruitment drives. Now let's see the rest of it… Yeah! That's what I'm talking about, ass that big, I'mma show you how to really spank a bitch. Bet the Illusive Man loves - Whoa! Whaddaya think you're doing?" Jack's hand flashed up, biotic energy gathering around it. Miranda was caught totally off guard, busy stepping out of one boot, and totally unable to defend herself. She started to bring her hands up in a defensive posture but wasn't fast enough. The strike arched out from her hand… and sped right past Miranda to strike something behind her. Miranda whirled to look behind her, not sure what she was expecting, only to see Shepard being knocked back into his seat for a second time.

"You heard the cheerleader," Jack cooed, lips spread into a wild smile, "this is between me and super slut. Just sit back and enjoy the show."

Miranda turned back to Jack. "Super slut?"

Her glare only made Jack leer. "I'm sorry, super whore. The Illusive Man pays you right?"

Alright, break time was clearly over. She kicked off her remaining boot and rushed the bed. Jack's confident, relaxed posture wasn't nearly as vulnerable as she'd thought though, and as Miranda came at her, she surged forward to meet her. Miranda tried to bullrush her back onto the bed, but Jack stood her ground, catching her charge. One hand caught one of Miranda's outstretched arms, clamping onto her wrist, the other slid around Miranda's waist. Jack pivoted, using Miranda's own momentum against her, and when the hit the bed, Miranda was the one on the bottom.

"My turn," Jack growled. The hand on her wrist released her, darting in to wrap around her throat. Her other slid off Miranda's hip and down between her legs. Miranda gasped as Jack's fingers entered her. She'd been taken off guard, provoked by the younger woman's insults. Now Jack had her. Miranda struggled, trying to shove herself up off the bed and break Jack's hold, but she wasn't fooling around. The fingers around her throat contracted, restricting her air. They weren't the fingers causing the real problem though. Jack might be an undisciplined, barely controlled bundle of issues shaped like a person, but she knew her business when it came to sex. Her fingers hammered into Miranda, ignorant of or uncaring about technique and finesse, relying instead on raw emotion. And it was fucking working. Pleasure washed up from between her thighs with each motion. In spite of herself, Miranda moaned as Jack's thumb started to grind into her clit. For a few seconds, she couldn't focus enough through the sensation to do anything about the domineering woman, and Jack bore down on her. She showered Miranda was harsh, aggressive kisses, liberally interspersed with bites and nips, paying special attention to her breasts and nipples. Miranda could feel the orgasm starting to build, the harsh finger fuck pulling it from her with a merciless efficiency. If she didn't do something soon, Jack was going to win. She'd have to do something to change the game then.

"Jack," She moaned softly, rolling her hips with the motion of the pounding fingers. Struggling, she pushed herself up on one arm and resting her other hand on Jack's cheek between kisses. The tenderness of the action took the other woman off guard. She froze, her whole body going still, fingers poised just outside Miranda. It was only for a moment, maybe half a moment, but it was all Miranda needed. She pulled her hand off Jack's cheek, then slapped her with it. At the same time, she planted her feet on the other woman's hips and pushed. Jack released her, stumbling back a half step, and Miranda scrambled back further onto the bed. With a snarl, Jack followed her, clambering up onto the bed herself. She caught Miranda. The next few moments were a mess of slaps, grabs, gropes, and kisses as each of them struggled to regain control of the momentum. For a while it was even, both of them clutching hard to the other as their legs intertwined, grinding their pussies against each other. Then Jack wrenched herself to one side, breaking the scissor and starting the contest for control again, this time with hair pulling.

That ended when Jack pinned Miranda to the mattress, smothering her with her ass, and hand back between her legs. She slapped Miranda pussy, the stinging pain radiating out in a mockery of the pleasure her fingers had elicited before. "Oh, ya... " She moaned, "eat my ass, cheerleader! Fucking love that tongue!" She shook her ass a little more, grinding it into Miranda's face. "Maybe if you're a good girl I'll let you clean it up next time Shepard fucks it. Would you like that, slut? Wanna be my ass cleaner?"

Miranda's reply was lost in Jack's ass and the younger woman laughed at her. "Don't talk with your mouth full. You really a whore when you pull that stick out of your ass." Her tone turned pensive. "Now that I think of it, maybe I should put something back up there." She leaned down and spit on Miranda's pussy. "What do you think? Think I should shove my fingers up that big ass of yooouurr -"

Miranda swung her legs up, straining her stomach muscles, and locked her feet behind Jack's head. She rocked forward, hauling Jack down and letting the momentum pull her up to a sitting position. Jack's mockery cut off as her face was shoved into the bed with Miranda's feet on the back of her head in a pseudo full nelson. She struggled, but one of her arms had been trapped under her, and Miranda had her legs trapped and off the bed, robbing them of the leverage they'd need, and conveniently putting her pussy inches away from Miranda's mouth. She focused on Jack's clit, alternating between long lapping licks with the flat of her tongue, and quick flicking motions with the tip. Miranda had learned to eat pussy from an acolyte of Sha'ira, and she was merciless in her application of the techniques until could feel Jack getting close in the way her body tensed against her and could hear it in the way her insults turned into breathy moans and cries. She drove Jack right to the edge, held her teetering on the brink of ecstasy, and stopped.

"Wha...?" Jack whimpered at the sudden lack of sensation. The younger woman's whole body quivered, waiting for a release it was suddenly denied. Miranda released one leg, and it stayed where it was, held in place by Jack's anticipation. She moved her hand up and slapped it down on Jack's ass, leaving it there and kneading the skin with her fingers. She brushed a finger over her asshole, running it in light circles around the puckered entrance. Jack whined plaintively at the touch. Miranda smiled, she had her.

"Who?" She asked, mouth so close to Jack she could feel the words. "Who's in charge and who's the bloody slut?"

"Just fucking do it." Jack groaned, hips trying to roll closer to Miranda's mouth.

Miranda spat on her ass hole, finger working the saliva around, getting it all wet. "Not until you say it."

Miranda had seen the first time Shepard had done this with Jack, she'd seen how long it took the other woman to capitulate, and she was prepared to wait, even through the burning need from her own sex telling her to just fuck the bitch now. She would wait, wait until she'd secured her victory, wait until she knew this wasn't going to be a problem any longer; wait until-

"You are! You're in charge and I'm a slut. Now let me cum!" There was no restraint in her voice, no mockery, nothing but need.

Oh. Well ok then. Miranda shoved her finger and tongue into each of Jack's holes simultaneously, and her vanquished rival screamed her concession to the world. Jack's orgasm was a violent as everything else she did, contracting muscles and shaking her whole body. That was all it took to propel Miranda over the edge. She released Jack, both of them collapsing to the bed, bodies quivering and cries mixing together.

Jack recovered faster than Miranda did, and with a little effort, she got herself turned around on the bed and crawled on top to Miranda. Miranda's eyes focused on her face as she mounted her, and she tensed, unsure of what the other woman was about to do. Jack put her hands on either side of Miranda's head, leaned down, and kissed her. It wasn't the fevered kisses of before, but a slow, drawn-out kiss that spoke volumes. When she broke it, both of them were panting. Jack brought her mouth close to Miranda's ear. "You're still Cerberus, and you're still a bitch," her voice gained just a bit of her usual mocking tone, "but maybe you're my kind of bitch."

Then she kissed Miranda again and slid a hand up Miranda's thigh. Miranda squirmed towards the hand. Then she realized something. Both of Jack's hands were still up next to her head, so who's? She broke the kiss and looked past Jack.

"Shepard?"


	16. Chapter 15

Miranda sat at the _Normandy's_ communal dining table, trying desperately to lose herself in her work. It wasn't working. She'd already written her report for The Illusive Man. Without the secure terminal in her office, there was no way to send it off without going through the Normandy's main systems, but she'd wanted to have it ready. With that out of the way though, all she really had left was routine paperwork. And no matter how much she wanted it to, triple checking the ships supplies wasn't engaging enough to pull her mind off the previous evening.

She'd fucked Jack. She tried to tell herself it had just been stress relief, purely a reaction to the fear and tension of that bloody ship. But, no matter how many times she repeated it to herself, she couldn't sell that story. No, she'd wanted to do it, what was more, she'd enjoyed it. She'd loved every minute of putting Jack in her place. It had been close, closer than Miranda would've expected honestly, but she'd done it. For a moment, the image of Jack, face down and quivering in anticipation, replaced inventory lists she'd been looking at. With a disgusted sound she shook her head in an effort to clear it.

"Jeez, Miranda, you look rough."

Her eyes snapped up from her data pad and she glared daggers at the person who'd just broken into her train of thought. Jacob weathered her glare stoically, and took the seat across from her. He passed her a cup of coffee and she downgraded the daggers to sharp sticks. "Did you get any sleep at all last night?"

"My bloody office has a hole in it large enough to walk through, what do you think?" She hadn't meant to snap at him.

He held his hands up defensively. "Hey, don't jump down my throat, in case you forgot, I'm out a room too."

It was true, Jacob had spent so much time in the armory that eventually he'd just dragged a cot in there and called it a day. He'd said it made things easier, what with the Normandy getting more and more crowded as Shepard kept recruiting people. Now he was in the same boat that she was. The hit that taken out her office had caused a power surge that had blown out half a dozen breakers throughout the ship. One of those had been in the armory, and unfortunately, the breaker had been placed against the back of a crate of grenades. The resulting explosion hadn't torn a huge hole in the ship, but it didn't need to. In fact, the data she'd been going before he interrupted her had been the inventory losses from that room. It was going to cost a small fortune to replace all the guns and gear that had been blown into space before the emergency seals locked the room down. She sighed and leaned back from the table.

"You're right, I'm sorry Jacob. No, I didn't get much sleep."

"Too busy, um… with… ah..?" He fumbled over the right words, clearly uncomfortable.

Right, they still needed to have this conversation. Had it really been less than a day since Jack had outed her to the rest of the crew? It wasn't like she owed Jacob an explanation. Sure, they'd been together for a little while, but it hadn't worked out. She'd thought they'd put it behind them, agreeing they worked better as friends than lovers, but here he was, awkwardly trying to ask what should have been a simple question. It was just another thing she didn't need right now. His fumbling question withered under her glare, and with her voice cold she asked his question for him. "Was I too busy screwing the Commander? No, Jacob, I'm not a bloody teenager."

"Uh... ok." He looked embarrassed for a moment, then asked tentatively. "So, what happened? I figured you'd have sacked out in his room since yours was out of commission."

This was absolutely none of his business, and she would be well within her rights to rip him a new asshole for even asking, but she didn't. There was nothing snide or angry, or even hurt in Jacob's face or voice, and she'd half expected there to be. With a start that made her feel like an idiot she realized there never had been. He was here as her friend, and that was it. He'd been awkward, not because he was judging her, but because this was the first time they'd talked about their sex lives since they split up. The biting response she'd been preparing died on her lips, and instead she thought about his question, going back over the evening as she tried to organize her thoughts into an appropriate answer.

Jack had left as soon as Shepard had passed out, scrambling off the bed and out of the room so fast she hadn't even stopped to grab her clothes. Miranda had been left to clean up the mess, and by the time she'd gotten Shepard off and gathered her own clothes Jack was long gone. She'd thought about following her down to her lair to continue what they'd started, but she hadn't. Instead, she'd left Shepard's cabin herself, delaying the inevitable consequences of their actions. She'd tried to catch a few hours sleep in one of the shuttles, but it hadn't worked. Finally, she'd given up and come up here to try to get some work done, which was where Jacob had found her.

"There were complications…" She hedged, still not sure what she was going to say.

"Mhmm," he nodded, taking a sip of his coffee, "do you want to talk about it?"

To her surprise, she found that she did.

* * *

I woke up, rushed for the head, and almost killed myself when my foot came down on something that rolled away from me. I stumbled a few steps before I could reclaim my balance and see just what the fuck had tripped me. It was a bottle. Somebody had left a half full bottle of liquor on my floor. I squinted at it for a few bleary seconds, trying to figure out just how it could have gotten there. Then it all came back to me. The meeting with Miranda, Jack interrupting it, and the ladies' unique take on conflict resolution. The last thing I remembered was shoving myself free of the warp field they'd used to restrain me and joining in. After that the details got a bit fuzzy, but from just how sore my muscles were, I felt confident it had been memorable. Neither of the women were in the room now though. Casting about I found Jack's clothes, but none of Miranda's. I tried to figure out what that meant as I finished crossing to the head. Fifteen minutes later I was clean, dressed in fresh clothes, and pretty sure I'd come up with the answer. Jack had probably been a little rattled in the aftermath of the evening, and once I fell asleep she'd probably bolted. Miranda had clearly gone after her. I'd probably find both of them down in Jack's little cave. I toyed with the idea of heading straight down there, but my ship was still damaged, and we were probably almost to Illium by now. I'd take care of the _Normandy_ first, then see about filling in the blanks from last night.

With that plan in mind I took the elevator down to the CIC. I could have asked EDI for a status report, but it would be good for the crew to see me after what we'd been through on that Collector cruiser. Kelly must have heard the elevator arrive, because she was waiting to greet me as I stepped out.

"Good morning, Commander," she chirped, chipper as always. "You will be happy to know that Dr. Chakwas has cleared Professor Solus for light duty. His injuries are healing nicely and she expects he will be combat effective in a few days."

That made me smile at the perky yeoman. In all the chaos of getting off the Collector ship, confronting the Illusive Man, and then what happened after, I'd completely forgotten about Mordin's injuries. "Thank you, Kelly, that's fantastic 's our ETA to Illium?"

"ETA?" She looked a little puzzled. "Commander, we're on Illium, we've been here for over an hour."

"What?" I demanded, confusion and anger replacing the smile, "Why didn't EDI wake me up when we exited FTL?"

Kelly's eyes shifted away from me. "Operative Lawson gave me explicit instructions that you were not to be disturbed before the ship had been fully docked. Dr. Chakwas agreed with her. And you looked so tired..." She trailed off uncomfortably.

I bit back a scathing reprimand. True, I'd left instructions to be informed when we exited FTL, but both Miranda and Karin had the authority to issue that kind of instruction to Kelly when we weren't in a combat situation. I took a few deep breaths and gave the worried yeoman a slightly sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, Kelly. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm doing better now. Where is Miranda? I need an update on the state of the ship."

Kelly had started to look relieved as I apologize, but when I asked about Miranda she grew worried again. "I'm sorry commander, operative Lawson is no longer on the ship. She and Jacob left almost as soon as we were docked."

She did what? With who? What the hell could those two be up to? I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice, Kelly looked worried enough as it was. "Did she say where she was going?"

"She said she was going to get a headstart on acquiring replacements for the supplies we lost when the armory was opened to vacuum." Kelly started to reach for her comm panel, "I can call her and ask her to return to the ship if you'd like."

I was tempted to have her do just that. But no. I'd told Miranda I trusted her, demanding that she clear all activity with me would shatter that trust. If she wanted to get a jump on the work, that was fine. And it explained why she took Jacob too, he was the ship's armorer after all. It was all perfectly reasonable, even if I had to suppress a reflexive surge of suspicion. Miranda had joined me, last night had proven that if anything had. I'd trust her call on this, for now at least. But we would talk about it when she got back. I didn't like her countermanding my orders, no matter how much I might have needed to sleep. That would come later though, for now I had a worried yeoman to calm. I held up a hand. "No, its fine. I'm sure Miranda knows what she's doing. I guess I'm still waking up. Was there anything else?"

Kelly looked visibly relieved. "Dr. T'Soni sent you a private message. Also, Operative Lawson organized a shore leave schedule for the crew, it's waiting in your inbox for your authorization."

There were a handful of other things, routine ship's business, and I listened politely as Kelly summarized each of them. When she finished I thanked her and shifted over to my own station where I studiously ignored the paperwork and files she'd forwarded to me and instead pulled up Liara's message.

 _Shepard_

 _I'm so glad you've made it back safely. Sounds like you had quite the adventure. Lawson contacted me as soon as the Normandy made orbit and explained the situation. I've pulled a few strings and there is a top priority berth waiting for you at the Di'Nea Shipyards. I've left a message with the dock's manager and they are expecting your call. Di'Nea are the premier shipbuilders on Illium and I think you will be very happy with them._

 _It should only take you a few hours to get things settled with them, so come see me at my apartment around five this evening. There is something I could use your assistance with and you can tell me all about your thrilling escape._

 _See you this evening,_

 _Liara_

There was an address attached, and I cloned it over to my omni tool before reading the message again. So, Miranda had reached out to Liara all on her own. It had been part of the plan we'd come up with the night before, but I hadn't really expected Miranda to take that particular step. I was glad she had though. The more those two interacted, the easier it would be when I eventually got them both into bed. And, beyond the personal implications, it meant that there was already a repair slot open for the _Normandy._ I'd fully expected to have to wait a few days for that. Once again it seemed my beautiful Liara had come through for me. My earlier concerns about what this new position meant for her were fading quickly. Liara was a big girl, and she'd proven herself more than capable of looking out for herself. No, I could get used to this new Liara, she was what I and my plans needed her to be.

I saved the message to my personal folder, then pulled up the Di'Nea Shipyards. At first glance they certainly seemed to be as good as Liara said they were. I put a call into their office, and again my lover's influence helped to speed things along. They'd been expecting me, and within minutes I'd arranged a meeting with a representative for this afternoon. Once I was off the comm with them, I spent a few minutes going through the rest of the paperwork, approved MIranda's shore leave schedule, and scheduled a strategy meeting with Garrus and Tali. I had Kelly send the message out to Miranda as well, but told her to say it wasn't compulsory.

While I was waiting for that to start, I headed down to the galley to snag myself a cup of coffee. It was empty, most of the crew either being at their stations or getting ready to enjoy their shore leave. Unfortunately that also meant the coffee carafe was empty. Thankfully I knew enough about sergeant Gardner's organization to find everything I needed. Starting the age old ritual of brewing fresh coffee, I also set about planning the rest of my day. I had a little time before meeting with Garrus and Tali. With Miranda off the ship I had a couple of options. I could go find Jack. After last night there were a few things she and I needed to talk about, and I had a few ideas about just how that conversation could go. On the other hand, taking the time to sort things out with her would probably get me up to my meeting late, and I wanted to have a solid plan ready for the yard dogs when they arrived. Besides after the ship, her confrontation with Miranda, and my own contributions, she was probably exhausted. I'd let her sleep. We'd be on planet for at least a few days, there was no need to rush things. Maybe once I'd explained the situation to Liara I'd bring the other two to her apartment and see what happened.

Musing over the possibilities that might bring I poured the freshly brewed coffee into a mug, put it down on the counter, and turned back to the refrigerator to grab some creamer. When I looked back at the mug though, it was gone. For a few seconds I just blinked at the space where it had been, then belatedly started to look around on the floor to see if I'd drop it. Nothing. A quick glance around proved I was still alone so nobody could have taken it. I had poured the cup hadn't I? Shaking my head I put the creamer down and grabbed a fresh mug from the cabinets. When I turned to put it down so I could pour the coffee into it, the creamer was gone. The fuck? I squinted around the room again, and this time noticed a very faint shimmer about a meter to the left. I glared hard at the distortion. I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking, but now that I saw it…

"Could you grab me the sugar while you're at it?" The slightly mocking voice came from the shimmer, and a second later it flashed bright white and dissolved to reveal Kasumi perched on the edge of the counter with my coffee cup held in one hand. As I gaped, she calmly poured some creamer into it. "Thanks, Shep."

"You're welcome?" I stammered, not totally sure how to reply to the brazen theft of my beverage.

She took a sip, made a face, and hopped off the counter. Brushing past me she rummaged around until she found the sugar. She pulled it out of the cabinet, spooned a double helping into her cup, took a sip, then looked back at me. One eyebrow quirked as she registered my expression, and she rolled her eyes. "I didn't become a master thief overnight," she waggled the mug, "always practicing."

I glared at her. She took another sip. My scowl cracked. I smiled ruefully and finished pouring the second cup. When it was ready I held it out and we clinked mugs. I took a sip of my own, then an idea occurred to me. "You know," I said, keeping my voice casual, "I might have something slightly more worthy of your skills."

"Oh?" She spooned a third helping of sugar into her cup. "What you thinking?"

I told her and her eyes lit up.

"Do you think you can do it?"

"Please, Shep, don't insult me."

I grinned. "Need anything from me?"

She pursed her lips, musing for a moment, and I took note of just how cute she looked like that. Kasumi had the kind of face that always looked innocent, no matter what it was doing, and that always gave me some distinctly non innocent ideas. "I could use a partner," she said a moment later, "you doing anything this afternoon?"

"Meeting with the repair people to fix the _Normandy,_ unfortunately. Then a local contact needs my help. Who else could do it?"

"Jacob," she said almost instantly, "he could work."

"Unfortunately he's off somewhere with Miranda and I don't know when they'll be back."

She made an unhappy sound, then shrugged. "Any reason it can't wait?"

I took another sip. "Not really. You're the expert. If you think Jacob is the guy you need…"

"I don't need him," she stressed need, "I just think he's got a great ass." I choked a little as I stopped myself from spitting coffee out in surprise. Kasumi giggled. "I don't need an assistant for their technical skills, Shep, just wanted somebody to keep me company and maybe provide a distraction here or there. And, if they happen to look good doing it, hey, bonus, right?"

When she put it that way. "Ok, I guess that makes sense." Something else occured to me. "Hey, does that mean the reason you asked me?"

She grinned innocently at me. "Was because I think you have a cute butt? Afraid Jacob's got you beat there." She put her mug down on the counter. "But, between Miranda, Jack, and this 'local contact', your time seems to be at a premium. Figured I'd try to snag a little of you for myself. No biggie. Have fun with your meeting, Shep. See if they can put in a hot tub while their at it."

With a little wave she pulled up another cloaking field. With effort I could make out the faint shimmer of air as she walked away. I shook my head. That had been… odd, but fun. I washed the mugs in the sink, cleaned up the coffee materials, and headed back up to the conference room, feeling the whole way that I'd missed something in the conversation.

The next couple hours passed quickly. Garrus, Tali and I went over the plans Miranda and I had come up with the night before, fine tuning and tweaking them. Tali in particular had some good ideas for upgrades and updates to the ship's systems. When we got closer to the appointed meeting with the representatives from Di'Nea, I had EDI ask engineers Donnelly and Daniels to join us, and even called Joker in to get his ideas. His suggestions were mostly outrageous cosmetic or comfort upgrades, but between the lot of us, we'd managed to hammer out a comprehensive plan by the time the reps arrived.

Once they were there though, we had to start the process all over again. The first hurdle was convincing the Asari that Tali really was my head Engineer. Their politely condescending attitude towards her had Garrus ready to shoot them within two minutes, Tali within five, and after another ten minutes of it I was almost ready to let them. Finally, between Tali's running rings around any technical questions they could think of, Garrus's glowering, and my insistence that if they wanted to work on the _Normandy_ they had to work with her, the idiots accepted that they didn't have any other choice. After that it was on to the technical concerns, of which they had plenty. I let Tali, Gabby and Kenneth handle those. Eventually Miranda joined us, giving me an odd look as she entered the room. I thought about taking her aside and asking about it, but she'd already jumped into the conversation. Stopping her now wouldn't send the right message. I'd have to find a moment after the meeting. Unfortunately, that proved harder than anticipated, because by the time everybody was finally on the same page, hours had passed, and a glance at my omnitool told me it was 16:50 local. Fuck, my meeting with Liara!

As quickly and politely as I could I passed the final arrangements to get the _Normandy_ into dry dock off to Miranda and excused myself. I was running way behind, I just had to hope that whatever it was Liara needed my help with wasn't time critical and that she hadn't gotten started without me.


	17. Chapter 16

I was too late. I'd dithered going over details with fucking bureaucrats, trying to save a few fucking credits, and now I was too fucking late!

I got the first sign something was wrong as my taxi angled in for a landing in Liara's building's parking lot. A pair of police shuttles were sitting on the deck, parked on either side of a gold skycar, emergency lights strobing. That set off alarm bells but it wasn't until I saw the crime scene barrier outside her door that I really started to worry. The officer on door duty spotted me as I drew closer to the door. Her eyes flicked over me, took in my armor, weapons, and then the insignia on my shoulder. She held up a hand while her other drifted towards her own weapon. "This area is off limits, sir. I'm going to have to ask you to-"

"What happened?" I demanded, cutting her off.

She stumbled over the routine script for a second, then her hand completed its move to her pistol "This is a crime scene, sir. Turn around and-"

"I can see that!" I snapped, "What the hell happened?"

The officer looked like she was about ready to shoot me, but she tried to keep her tone polite as she tried the script one more time. "Sir, there has been an-"

This time a new voice cut the officer off. "Somebody tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard."

The voice came from further into the room. Looking past the officer I saw an armored woman walking towards us. Like the cop, she was Asari, but I didn't see a police insignia. I wasn't familiar with her armor either, but it had the distractive lines and curves of Asari design. Like the majority of Asari armor I'd seen, it did almost as much to accentuate the curves of its' wearer as it did to protect them, but dents, paint chips, and impact scorching proved its practicality. As she approached, I was overwhelmingly reminded of Samara, or maybe Miranda. This was a predator, a skilled and seasoned fighter, and what somebody like this was doing in Liara's apartment I had no idea. I doubted it could be anything good. The officer clearly knew who she was though, because she never took her eyes off me.

"Commander Shepard?" She asked, suspicion clear in her tone, "As in the first human Spectre? I thought they were dead?"

"So did a lot of people." I said. I didn't have time to deal with this. The new Asari had said someone tried to kill Liara. Tried. That implied they failed, but in that case, where was she? I needed answers, and this officer was just going to get in my way. I pushed past her, setting off the crime scene barrier as I did. It started flashing red, and the cop's eyes widened.

"Look," she started to draw her pistol, "I don't care who you are-"

The other Asari interrupted her. "Thank you, officer. Your're people are dismissed."

"You can't do-"

"Already done." The other Asari's voice was flat, and she glared at the officer. For a moment or three the cop looked like she were going to push it, then with a sigh let her half raised weapon drop back to her hips. The rest of the cops milling about the place apparently took that as a sign, and started to file out. As they left, I entered, stalking up the stairs, all of my attention on the woman who'd just ordered a cop out of crime scene. Clearly, she was used to having authority; and the more I saw of her, the more I didn't like her being here. Liara hadn't said anything about anybody else joining us, especially some nobody like this woman. Until I knew more about just what had happened, I wasn't taking any chances. So, instead of closing the distance, I stopped at the top of the steps into the apartment proper, leaving a few feet between us. She seemed to understand what I was doing, one corner of her mouth quirking up as she introduced herself. "Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon."

A Spectre. Well that explained why she could order the cops out of their own crime scene. Illium might be an independent planet, but nobody here would want to piss off one of the Citadel's elite operatives. Which only begged the question, what the hell did one of those elite operatives want with Liara?

Vasir waited a moment, but when I didn't say anything she just kept talking. "I hear your status was reinstated. Glad to hear it. You're one of our most famous operatives. Maybe I'll get you to sign my chest plate." There might have been a slight hesitation between the last two words, but I couldn't be sure, and right now, I wasn't in the mood.

"What happened?"

Her confident smile faded. "About twenty five minutes ago somebody tried to kill T'Soni. Note the windows." She gestured to a pair of spiderweb fractures in the large picture windows that made up one wall. The glass was shattered in an area almost two meters square, and at the center of each was an impact hole. "The shooter didn't count on the kinetic barriers. Building records indicate T'Soni stuck around for almost four minutes before she left. Whatever she was doing it was important. The police arrived a few minutes after that, and I got here a few minutes after them."

"Do you know where Liara went?" It was a long shot, but might as well ask it.

"If I knew that I wouldn't still be here sifting through her crap." The Spectre sounded a little insulted. Well tough shit. I wasn't happy about this situation either. Liara knew I was coming, if somebody had just tried to kill her, she should have called me, or at least left a message. That seemed like as good a place as any to start. "Liara was expecting me, she would have left me a message. Was there anything like that?"

Vasir shrugged. "Not that I've been able to find, but you knew her better than me, where would she have hidden it?"

I looked around the room, really taking it in for the first time. "Let's find out."

Liara's apartment was nice. Like, really nice. Spacious, and decorated in a clean, sensible fashion, but with mementos from her life scattered around to add personality. Here a framed doctorate from the university of Serrice, there a painting of Illos, and displayed prominently in a glass case, my old chest plate. Scorched, battered, and crumbling around the edges, but clearly my old armor. Cerberus must have let her keep it after she turned me over to them. It was a sign of how much she cared about me that she'd kept it, and seeing it redoubled my determination to find her. Liara was more than just my lover, she was one of my most trusted allies, and losing her was not acceptable. I would find her, I would save her and I'd kill anybody who tried to stop me. With that promise burning in my mind, I turned away from the display and went back to searching.

I went through the whole main level without finding anything, then moved upstairs. Vasir shadowed me the whole way. The upper story was set up in something of a loft format, open to the rest of the apartment. It was decorated in a similar style to below, and the center was dominated by a truly expansive bed. Vasir whistled when she saw it. "Damn, looks like you could fit a bunch of people on that thing. Been a few times in my life where a bed like that would have come in handy."

Even through the anger and fear I felt at the situation I couldn't help but agree. Liara'd told me about the bed, in some fairly imaginative detail actually. She'd bought it when she started hearing rumors that I was alive. It was just one more example of her excellent foresight, and I homed in on it. If she was going to hide something for me…

It wasn't the bed that held the clue though. As I drew closer to it I noticed the single framed picture on her bedside tables. It was an image of the original _Normandy_. Something about it caught my interest and I picked it up. As soon as my fingers came into contact with it, the picture abruptly changed. The ship vanished, replaced by an image of the Prothean dig site where I'd first rescued her from Saren's minions. That gave me an idea. Several of the decorative pieces scattered around were Prothean artifacts. Maybe one of them held a clue. I shared my idea with Vasir, and we split up, searching each of the artifacts in turn until we found the correct one; a large chunk of stone at the foot of the stairs up to her room. As soon as I touched it, there was a soft click, and a concealed tray slid out to expose a data disk.

The disk turned out to be a recorded comm message. Liara was talking to a skittish looking Salarian about some data he'd gotten for her. By itself that wasn't much to go on - in my experience most Salarians looked skittish, but then we got to the good part. Liara's informant asked her to meet him at his office at Baria Frontiers, in the Dracon Trade Center in four hours. He asked a few more worried questions, then signed off. I checked the time stamp on the message. "This was recorded just a few minutes before the attack. Whoever did this had to know about this call."

The Spectre nodded, expression grim. "I know where the Dracon Trade Center is. My car's outside." She turned and headed for the door. I put an arm out and stopped her. She looked back over her shoulder at me, expression questioning but not violent.

"Before we go, I need to know why you're looking for Liara. Spectres don't usually do routine police work, so talk."

She gave me a hard look for a few seconds before inclining her head just a bit. "I'm on assignment. I'll go into more detail on the way, but for now rest assured that I want to find T'Soni just as badly as you do."

That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. Knowing the council had put a Spectre on Liara was not comforting news. If they dug deep enough into her, they might start finding some of the pieces she'd started to lay on my behalf, and there were a few of those I'd rather the council didn't know about. I could try to warn Vasir off, but that seemed like it would be a losing plan. For now, the best idea was probably just to keep her close. So I released her, and hoping this time I wasn't too late to help, followed the Spectre out to her car.

* * *

Miranda sighed and flopped back into Shepard's office chair. He'd left the meeting before she'd had a chance to talk to him, and by the time she'd finished getting the _Normandy_ settled into its docking slot, he was long gone. A quick scan through his mail, something she still had access to even without the special terminal in her office, gave her a pretty clear idea of where he'd gone too. T'Soni. Miranda expected to feel outrage, or maybe jealousy at the idea that he'd abandon her to solving the ship's problems while he ran off for a booty call, but she didn't. She'd known who Shepard was even before he'd died, and the hours she'd spent pouring over his records while she was rebuilding him only hammered it home. Miranda had been fully aware of that when she decided to let things get physical. So no, it didn't piss her off that he left her to deal with the problem, it only surprised her a bit that he'd stayed as long as he had. Which was fine, she needed privacy for her next step, and with her office unavailable, this was the next best option.

Reaching out, she tapped in a complicated sequence on Shepard's keyboard. The screen flashed and went blank. She typed out a second sequence, and the screen came back to life. The view was different though. Instead of Shepard's personal display, the screen now showed her a view of an empty room. In the center an empty chair sat facing her. Through the viewports behind that chair she could see the roiling surface of a gas giant, competing clouds of scarlet and azure swirling and mixing. She sat back to wait.

Talking with Jacob had helped her clear her thoughts a bit. They hadn't talked about last night, or even about her relationship with Shepard, not a lot anyway. They'd just talked. Letting their conversation meader and roam. Over the course of that conversation Miranda realized what was really bothering her about the situation. Since that first night with Shepard, she'd felt conflicted, torn between her duties to Cerberus, and a growing sense of loyalty to the Commander. She hadn't told Jacob, it was noticing the way his loyalty was shifting that had made her consider the possibility that she was doing the same. Well, now that she knew what was bothering her, she was going to fix it. Shepard might be a good lover, he might even be exactly the hero the galaxy needed to stop the Collectors and maybe even the Reapers, but he wasn't perfect. Today was ample demonstration of that. She liked Shepard, but she'd dedicated her life to Cerberus, and she knew where her loyalties really lay.

She didn't have to wait long. Less than a minute after she'd initiated the connection, lights flickered in the seat, then expanded into the seated form of the Illusive Man. For several seconds he studied her, taking a drag from his cigarette as he did. Miranda was used to that stare, and she waited for him to speak. He expelled a small cloud of smoke, knocked the ash from the cigarette, and finally spoke. "Miranda."

She stiffened at the barely perceptible rebuke in the single word greeting, he was wondering what had taken her so long to contact him. "I apologize for the delay. With the damage to my office, this was the first chance I've had to find a private terminal."

He let that hang for a few moments, then nodded. "I understand. Report."

Miranda filled him in her part of the mission aboard the Collector ship. He listened patiently, not interrupting her. When she finished, he sat back, expression hard to read. "That lines up with Shepard's version of the story. Glad to see he isn't leaving anything out. I'll tell our R&D people that the new armor works, but I'm sure they'll appreciate a full report from you when you have the time. Subject Zero's power seems to have grown even further than our best case scenarios."

"Jack is powerful," Miranda admitted, unintentionally stressing the name, "She's also incredibly unstable."

He made a dismissive gesture. "Hardly important. She isn't going to be the asset we hoped she would be, but she served her purpose nonetheless. The data gathered during her time on Pragia will be useful in the future, and I'm adding her to your list of responsibilities. Keep me apprised of her condition, mental and physical, and I want regular evaluations of her battlefield performance."

"You aren't going to restart that disaster?" As much as Miranda disliked Jack, the idea of restarting the Teltin project made her sick. The so called scientists in that facility had been monsters, and if she'd known at the time what was happening…

"No, I have no intention of repeating those mistakes. However horrific their methods though, that data was created and I won't let it go to waste. I want you to observe Subject Zero and if something should happen, we will have the data to fall back on. Is that understood?"

Just information gathering, purely observation, she could live with that. "Perfectly." Another thought struck her, and she continued. "There is probably something you should know. Shepard gave Jack access to our files, she's compiled a list of targets for once this mission is over."

The Illusive Man's expression turned hard. "I'm unhappy Shepard gave her that information. Subject Zero is an asset for the moment, but she could quickly turn into a liability. Shepard has her on a leash right now, keep her there."

Miranda thought about all the damage Jack could do when she finally snapped. It wasn't a pleasant thought. "Do you have any specific instructions?"

He took another drag on his cigarette. "I trust you to handle it. As a precaution, I'll have Rasa compile a file of potential threats to the organization, then fabricate some ties to the Teltin project. If Zero does slip the leash, at least we can use her rampage to our advantage."

That was exactly the cold pragmatism Miranda had come to expect of the Illusive Man. She'd helped him with dozens of similar operations. This time though, something felt off. She kept her unease to herself. The last the she needed right now was to let her own issues distract her from her duty. She nodded. "It won't come to that."

"Glad to hear it. Keep me apprised of the _Normandy'_ s repair status. I'll want a full report of how the new systems perform. If they prove a significant upgrade, we'll incorporate them into future builds."

That surprised Miranda. She'd seen the price tag for this _Normandy_. The revelations that there might be future builds was...unexpected. Not that she didn't see the advantage. Stealth frigates were a new concept, and they were ideally suited to the clandestine operations of an organization like Cerberus. And, if he did intend to build more, the _Normandy_ was an excellent testing ground for the design. "Of course."

The Illusive Man tapped ash off his cigarette. "Good. Is there anything else?"

This was the moment of truth. "Yes, there is: I'm sleeping with Shepard."

Something flickered across the Illusive Man's face to quickly for Miranda to catch what it was before his features smoothed back into their usual impassive mask. "Good."

And there it was, the admission that he'd anticipated this would happen. Which shouldn't have surprised her. He'd read the same files about Shepard she had. And it wasn't like he hadn't sent her on bedroom ops before. She should have known he'd expect this. He'd basically said as much when he'd given her the assignment after all. For some reason, she just hadn't wanted to hear it. Well, she'd heard it now, and it didn't change anything.

He continued speaking. "This will ensure he trusts you enough for you to guide him towards the right decisions in the future." He smiled at her, and for the first time in her career, that smile failed to fill her with the same sense of pride it usually did. "I don't need to warn you about Shepard's charisma. I have every confidence in your ability with withstand it. I am counting on you, Miranda. Shepard is the key to stopping the Reapers, and with you at his side-"

Miranda's comm started to buzz, and the Illusive Man shut his mouth. She glanced down at the ID, and her blood froze. The screen on her omni-tool read: SHEPARD. Her eyes flicked back to the image on her terminal. Had he somehow bugged his office? There was no way, her omni-tool routinely scanned any room she entered for all known forms of surveillance, and it hadn't indicated anything. But then why was Shepard calling right now? Right as she was in the middle of a call with the Illusive Man, and he was in the middle of whatever it was he was doing with T'Soni? Holding a finger up to the screen, she tapped the acceptance key.

"Shepard, sorry I wasn't there at the start of the meeting. Everything is going smoothly now, the ship is in dock, and the technicians just finished shutting down the main drive." The words tumbled out faster than she'd anticipated, and with a start she realized she was babbling, instinctively trying to cover the guilty feeling of being caught talking about somebody behind their back. Damn it, she was better than that. She started to force a little more calm into her voice. "I was going to-"

Shepard cut her off. "That's fine, Miranda, but tell me about it later. Somebody tried to kill Liara. She got away, and I'm following her trail now. I've linked up with a Spectre who was already looking for her. Grab anybody else who's around and meet me at the Baria Frontiers office in the Dracon Trade Center."

What? Somebody had tried to kill T'Soni? On the desk terminal, the Illusive Man smiled and made a gesture as if he wanted to say something. Miranda hit the mute button on her comm.

"I assume you know something about this?"

His smile took on a self-satisfied air. "I had somebody slip T'Soni a lead we'd discovered that may lead to the Shadow Broker's main base. She's been looking into that, and I felt we owed her a little something in appreciation for her assistance with retrieving Shepard's body. Apparently she wasn't subtle enough about her investigation. Seems like Shadow Broker has made a move against her."

Miranda ground her teeth. That was the sort of action he should have told her about in advance. "What do you want me to do?"

The Illusive Man shrugged, an eloquently smug gesture. "You have your orders. Shepard has requested your assistance. Assist him."

His instructions left a clear loophole, and she narrowed her eyes. "And T'Soni?"

"This attack on her is all the proof I need that the information is valid. I will start a team running the intel down on our own. As for T'Soni herself...I'll leave that up to you, if you think she is still valuable, save her. If not..."

He let that last idea hang in the air and disconnected. Miranda stared at the mute button on her comm. She was more than capable of filling in the unspoken suggestion. If T'Soni really was in trouble, and Shepard really did need her help to save her, this could be an ideal time to eliminate one of his remaining outside supporters, and all Miranda would have to do is arrive too late to help. It was an interesting idea…

* * *

The silence on the other end of the comm dragged on, and I started to get the horrible suspicion that Miranda had been the one to put the hit out. But then Miranda's voice returned, and the worry in it banished that fear. "Shepard, almost everybody is off ship, but Samara, Zaeed, and Grunt are here. I'm grabbing them and hitting the shuttle. EDI has us 20 minutes out, but I'm sure I can do better than that. We're on our way, so don't do anything stupid before we get there."

"I'll do my best, but you know me." I quipped, and disconnected. I turned to Vasir. We were in her skycar, the sleek gold model I'd taken note of when the cab first dropped me off. The comm ran through my earpiece, so she'd only heard my end of the conversation.

"My team is on the way," I told her, "ETA 20 minutes."

Vasir smirked. "I'll have us there in 10. Do you want to wait for them?"

I grinned back. "No, I do not."

Despite the fear I was feeling for Liara, I felt better than I had since arriving. Having a lead to follow gave me something to latch onto, and the tightness that had been gripping my chest since I first found the cops in Liara's apartment faded to the familiar background anxiety of any mission. I wasn't stupid, and I didn't want Liara to get hurt, but now I had something to do, and that was all I needed. The only question now was how much damage I'd have to do to save her, and to who. Which reminded me. I gave Vasir a frank look. "Okay, we're on our way. Fill me in."

She twitched the steering yoke, sending us rocketing around a slower vehicle before answering. "Somebody got word that T'Soni was digging into the Shadow Broker's network. I was sent out here to look into the situation."

"Why does the Council care about that?"

"Officially, it doesn't. Unofficially, that network represents one hell of an intelligence asset. Let's just say that certain parties would be very interested to know that T'Soni's learned."

I thought about that for a moment. "Sounds like it's the Shadow Broker's people gunning for her. If they're doing that, it means she found something."

"My thoughts exactly. Which is why I want to find her. I need to know what she found out."

I grunted and we lapsed into a contemplative silence. I was thinking about the potential possibilities Liara's search might have opened up. Vasir was right. It was common knowledge that the Shadow Broker knew more about the galaxy than anybody else. Nobody knew much about them though. I'd heard theories that they were an AI, the last remaining Prothean, or even a Geth, others contended that the Shadow Broker couldn't just be one person, and it had to be an identity shared by a group. Personally, I didn't really care. Whoever they were, we'd done some successful business in the past, and I'd been content to leave it at that. But if Liara really was digging into their organization, and really had found something, that was potentially useful. If she was able to break off some of the vast intelligence that organization represented… Knowledge was power, and I needed as much of it as I could get my hands on.

Eventually, the silence started to grow a bit uncomfortable. I'd misjudged Vasir. She'd been honest with me about her mission, and it was one that made sense. If the Shadow Broker really was making a move on Liara, I was lucky to have somebody of her caliber backing me up. And now that I wasn't completely occupied with worrying about Liara, I had time to notice a few things I'd missed before. Vasir was one of handful of Asari I'd met who'd taken to using tattoos to bring out their natural markings. The deep purple patterns stood out against her blue skin, and they gave her face an exotic beauty. I wouldn't mind getting to know her better - we were colleagues after all.

"So," I said, breaking the silence, "you haven't asked about it."

She didn't take her eyes off the road. "About your dick? Why bother? I'll see it soon enough, and the fun part about humans is the variety, why ruin the surprise by talking about it?"

I gaped at her. What the fuck was she...? Then I saw the edge of her mouth tug up into a smirk. She'd played me. Well fine, two could play at that game. "Not what I was talking about, but I'm game. I still have to sign your chest, remember."

"Chest plate. I said you could sign my chest plate."

"I can do both."

That got a chuckle from her, "Fair enough." She threw an appraising glance my way, "How about this. You help me find T'Soni, and I'll give you a big sloppy blowjob as a thank you. See where the rest of the night goes from there?"

Her tone left me guessing about how serious she was. I'd meant this as playful banter, mostly, a way of making some inroads towards making up for the hostility of before, but if it actually developed into something more… Vasir was clearly competent and a Spectre, having somebody like her in my corner could be very, very helpful in the next few months. The fact that she was attractive, and my kind of flirtatious certainly didn't hurt her case either. I gave her my most charming smile. "Sounds like a plan."

"Good." Her eyes returned to the traffic around us. "So, if you weren't asking about your dick, what were you talking about?"

"I was wondering when you were going to ask about me being dead, most people do."

"Oh, that," she shrugged, the car swerving a bit in response, "no big deal, who hasn't spent some time dead. One of the only ways to get some R&R in this job."

"By dying?" I couldn't really keep the skepticism out of my voice.

Deftly she twitched her hands and brought us back on course. "Or faking your death. I knew another Asari Spectre who pulled that trick for almost a decade, said she needed the time off. Job gets pretty hairy sometimes, makes people do some weird shit. You should ask Bau about the three months he spent as, I shit you not, a massage therapist. Swears it was vital to uncover the money trail for a Batarian slave ring."

"Bau?" I didn't even try to pretend to know what she was talking about.

"Oh, right, you never made it to any of the union meetings did you. Jondum Bau, he's another Spectre, Salarian, specializes in financial crimes."

"And you think he took the job as a way of relaxing?"

"No, I think he dragged it out because he enjoyed it. Especially considering he'd killed the entire ring's leadership by the end of the second month. Like I said, Spectres do crazy shit. That's why I wasn't all that surprised you eventually came back to life. I met Saren, he was one tough son of a bitch. Add saving the Citadel on top of that, I wouldn't say no to some time off after that."

I hadn't considered it that way. Between Vasir and that C-Sec officer, Bailey I think? I was starting to get the impression faking your own death was more common than I'd have guessed. I guess it made sense for people like the Asari, they lived for centuries, what was a few years to one of them? I filed the information away for future reference. "Besides," Vasir continued, "that isn't the rumor that interests me anyway. Scuttlebutt has it you're working for Cerberus now, that true?"

I considered lying to her, but decided against it. If she was asking me about it, chances were she already knew the answer. And even if she didn't, it wouldn't be hard for her to find out. Hell, all she'd need to do would be pull some surveillance video of the _Normandy_ , the Cerberus logo was a little hard to miss. Might as well earn the points for honesty then. "I'm working with them, yes. Our goals are aligned for the moment, doesn't mean I work for them."

She nodded. "I get that. Spectre's don't have the same luxury as other people. We work with whoever we have to to get the job done. I've even worked with Aria T'Loak a few times. Ends justify the means after all. Speaking of ends," she pointed out the window. "We're here."


	18. Chapter 17

Vasir brought us down in the building's designated landing area. Everything looked normal. A handful of people were around, going about whatever business they had at the trade center. We drew a few concerned looks as we exited the skycar, and people gave us a wide berth as we climbed the steps up to the closest entry to the building. "The Baria Frontiers offices are located on the third floor." Vasir said. "I don't hear any police chatter; we must have missed the party." She flashed a smile at me...and the building behind her exploded.

The blast blew out a set of windows on the third floor, showering us with glass and debris. _Liara!_ I barely had time to think her name before a rippling series of follow up explosions knocked me off my feet and threw me back down the steps and onto the hood of Vasir's skycar. My armor took the brunt of the impact. I'd been a little hesitant to wear it to a booty call, but Liara had said there might be trouble later, and I'd figured it would be easier to have it with me than going back and getting it. Now, I was really glad that I had.

"Liara!" I shoved myself out of the dent I'd made in the car. I looked at Vasir wildly, she'd missed the car and was already getting back on her feet. Her eyes were wide, and she shook her head to clear it.

"They just took out three floors to make sure she's dead." She reached for the door to her skycar. "I'll seal off the building from the top."

"I'll start down here and work my way up."

"Just leave some for me." We exchanged nods and she wrenched the door open. I pulled the rifle off my back and waded into the chaos. The bombs had done a lot of damage, but out here most of it was superficial. Glass and broken bits of building were scattered all around me. And there were a lot of people down. I didn't take the time to stop and check on any of them, Liara needed me. Most of them looked like they'd just been knocked down by the explosion like I had anyways. They were disoriented, confused, but they'd be fine. I stalked past them and into the building. The damage inside was considerably worse. Large pieces of masonry had been knocked free from the ceiling. They lay scattered around the trading floor in a haphazard pattern. The people in here hadn't been as lucky as the ones outside. I saw people trapped under rubble, people bleeding from where they'd been hit by flying debris, and a lot of people who weren't moving at all. I ignored all of them.

The stairway up to the second floor had survived more or less intact, and as I neared it I noticed the body of a man in a Baria Frontiers corporate uniform. That I did stop for. I crouched down and placed my fingers on his neck. Nothing. The man's back was blackened and scorched from where the explosion had caught him, and he lay in a sprawl at the foot of the steps. A trail of bloody impact marks showed where he must have hit the steps as he fell down them. I followed those grisly marks until they were replaced by bloody footprints. This man had clearly been injured in the blast, and must have tried to go for help. He hadn't made it, but he had left me a trail to follow.

The footsteps led up the stairs, and into a second, ever more damaged atrium. I passed another half dozen bodies as I followed them, and my anger and fear mounted. Whoever had done this, had bombed an entire building, killing who knew how many people just to get at Liara. They were dangerous. This kind of attack showed a casual disregard for consequence I wouldn't have expected to see on a planet like Illium. Omega sure, that place was lawless as they came, but Illium enjoyed at least nominal protection from the Asari government. Whoever was behind this attack had to have some big balls to go after Liara like this. They were well funded too. Just outside the doors to the Baria Frontiers office I found a bomb. It was large, about the size of suitcase, and I recognized it as a modern Turian design. I touched my earbud.

"Vasir, I found a military grade explosive. It looks like something happened with the detonator." We'd synched up comms on the ride over.

"Sloppy work." She sounded almost offended. "You use that kinda hardware when you don't have time to plan."

She was right, it was sloppy. The bomb's design was fairly new, still actively in use with the Turian military - or at least it had been a few years ago. Weapons like that weren't just sold at the corner gun store. I guess it was possible the Turian government had something against Liara, but Turians knew their business too well to have screw up the detonator. Whoever had armed this bomb hadn't done it right. So - well funded, but not particularly well trained. That was something at least. I pulled the detonator completely free of the bomb just to be sure, then continued forward.

Miraculously, the explosions hadn't damaged the doors to Baria Frontiers too much, and as soon as I neared them they slid open with only faint grinding sounds. The doors on the other side of the entrance lobby weren't nearly as accommodating. They stayed resolutely shut as I drew near, the locking hologram glowing a sullen red. For a few moments I was worried they had been damaged, but when I tapped the open symbol a recorded voice told me I had to sign before entering. Growling a little I backtracked to a console in the middle of one wall. A quick swipe of my omnitool and my name appeared on the screen, directly below Liara's. My heart did a weird little flip flop as I saw her name. The time stamp said she'd signed in only a few minutes before, which was good because it meant that I wasn't far behind her, but it also meant she'd been in the building when the bomb went off. That was less good. Liara was a big girl, and I'd seen her come out of firefights that would have killed trained Marines, but if she'd been caught unawares… The image of Liara laying bleeding, unconscious or dead under a pile of rubble suddenly filled my mind, and I sprinted for the door.

The previously recalcitrant portal opened at my approach, letting smoke billow in from the room beyond. Small fires burned in places despite the efforts of the building's built-in sprinklers. By some odd twist of fate, the glass partition separating the waiting room from the offices deeper in was still fully intact, and as I entered the devastation, a recorded male voice welcomed me to Baria Frontiers. The disconnect between the enthusiastic recorded sale pitch and the devastation around me was almost comical. I was distracted thinking about the absurdity of it when an object bounced around the corner into the office proper. Training kicked in before I had the chance to really register the device, and I threw myself backward. I landed badly, taking most of the impact on one hip and skidding to a rest laying on one side. I brought an arm up between my face and the grenade a second before it exploded. Instead of fire and shrapnel though, I was hammered by blinding light and thundering sound. A fucking flashbang! My interposed arm provided enough protection from the luminary assault that I was able to blink the spots out of my vision. Just in time to see the pair of armored forms that rushed around the corner after the grenade.

I leveled my rifle at them one handed and held down the trigger. The Mattock spat a single round that blew a potted plant to pieces, but missed my attackers by almost a meter. Fuck. The shot did alert them to my position though, and they both swung rifles towards me. FUCK! I rolled to one side, losing my rifle in the process, and taking a handful of shots that set off my shield's imminent failure alarms. The roll did get my feet under me though, and I shoved myself up, drawing my sidearm as I rose. The attackers had tracked me as I rolled, and their guns were almost in position as I came up. Almost wasn't good enough. I rushed them, pistol out and firing. My first couple of shots took the lead asshole in the chest, knocking him back into his buddy, and screwing up his aim. He fired anyway, stitching a line of holes in the wall to my left before one of my shots got through his defenses and he dropped. That cleared his partner's line of fire, and the fucker wasted no time in laying on the trigger. My shields stopped two more shots, the armor stopped another one, then I leapt over his fallen comrade and slammed into him.

The impact drove both of us to the ground, and knocked the rifle out of his hands. The asshole was good, I'll give him that. He didn't bother trying to recover his weapon, instead clenching his hands together and bringing them down hard on the top of my head. Getting hit with armored fists without a helmet fucking sucks. Pain exploded from my neck, and my vision went spotty for a second. But I didn't need to see to kill this prick. I drove my pistol into his side and emptied it. He got in another hit before the armor gave way and he went limp. I pushed myself unsteadily to my feet, blinking to try to clear the stars from my vision.

Panting, I retrieved my rifle. This wasn't good. These assholes had been waiting for me. Maybe not me personally, but they'd clearly been here to stop anybody who tried to enter the offices. That was both good and bad. If they had somebody on door duty, then they probably haven't found what they were looking for yet. That was good. It also meant they had enough people to leave a team on door duty, which wasn't good. I took a moment to survey the men's gear. The rifles were Alliance M-8 Avengers. It was a good gun, sturdy, reliable, and about as common a weapon as they came. The armor was similarly bland, some offshoot of the Alliance's Onyx design. It was all good gear, and so generic that it didn't tell me anything. There was an organization insignia on the chest, but I didn't recognize it. Damn it. These guys were well armed. The smart thing to do now would be to wait for Miranda and her team. With the four of them, this wouldn't even be a fight. Unfortunately they weren't here yet, and delaying might kill Liara. "Fuck smart!"I growled and slapped a fresh thermal clip into my pistol.

I commed Vasir as I moved deeper into the office, warning her that I'd encountered armed resistance. She acknowledged, made a joke about the Shadow Broker's private army, and signed off. Which was fine, I had my hands full with another couple of goons. Now that I was expecting them, things went significantly better. With disruptor ammo, it only took a couple of shots to bring down their shields and their armor didn't stand up long to the Mattock's heavy rounds. That made me feel a little better. I paused long enough to strip the grenades off one of the bodies before continuing forward. The Shadow Broker's hit team tried to stop me. They failed. They came at me rag tag, in groups of two or three, and I put them down as they came. After the third such attack I realized why they were so spread out. They didn't know where their target was. These guys were searching the offices. That realization gave me hope. It was possible they hadn't found Liara yet. I whirled out from behind the column I'd been using for cover. A new group came in on the heels of the one's I'd just killed, and instead of ducking back into cover, I charged them. They died, and I continued forward.

I cleared out the entirety of the first floor without finding Liara or her contact. That only left the upper level. I found the stairs, but ran into a problem. The explosion must have damaged some kind of gas line, because fire spewed wildly into the stairwell, blocking my progress till I found the shut off valve. Luckily, the controls for the pipes were close. I lost only a minute putting out the fire, then stormed up the steps. As I ascended, Vasir commed to let me know she'd cleared her floor and was moving down as well. That meant, whoever was on this level, we had them boxed. At the top of the stairs, another pair of goons tried to repeat the same trick their buddies had used on me in the entry lobby. This time though I saw the grenade as it bounced around the corner. I ducked down, interposing the last couple of steps, and primed one of my own pilfered grenades. As soon as I heard the thud of detonation, I tossed mine. It worked perfectly. They'd timed their attack to hit me while I was still stunned. Instead, they rounded the corner just in time for the second blast to hit them full force. They stumbled back, hands waving in instinctual attempts to wipe the blinding light away from their eyes. I shot them.

The stairs led to a balcony that ran along to a pair of offices, probably belonging to whoever was in charge of this branch of Baria Frontiers. One door was closed, and I passed it over in favor of the one that had been forced open. I swung around it, expecting to find more goons, but it was just an empty outer office, parts of it still burning. Further in I could see another closed door, likely the private office. With nowhere else to go, I moved to the door. If Liara wasn't in here, I'd have to double back and start prying open the locked doors I'd passed. Then, from the otherside of the door in front of me, I heard a shot. Somebody was still in there. I took up position beside the door, where I'd be out of the way when it opened, then triggered the release button. It slid open, somebody fired another shot, I whirled in; and almost had to step back as one of the mercs staggered towards me before collapsing to its knees and slumping to the side, a hole in the back of its helmet leaking sparks and blood.

I fanned my rifle barrel up, looking for the source of the shot, then relaxed. It was Vasir. The asari holstered her pistol and gestured to the side. "Damn it. If I'd been a few seconds faster, I could've stopped them."

I looked where she pointed, and sighed. A Salarian body was sprawled against the wall. Its chest had been ripped apart, the blood spatter so fresh that the water from the fire suppression system hadn't had time to wash it off the wall yet. Fuck!

"This Sekat?" I asked, crouching down to get a better look at the face, if this was Liara's contact…

"Must have been."

Well, shit. I gave the body a quick once over, looking for the data. Nothing. "No sign of that data Liara talked about." I straightened back up. "Looks like a dead end."

Vasir made a soft, disappointed sound. "Speaking of which, did you find your friend's body?"

"You mean this body?" My heart swelled and I whirled back to the door I'd come in through. Liara stood there, a pistol outstretched in front of her. Her clothes were smudged with smoke and a little singed around the edges, but she didn't look hurt, just pissed off. She didn't even look at me as she came in. All her attention and focus was locked on Vasir. I looked between the two women.

"Liara," I asked, "something I should know?"

"This is the woman who tried to kill me." Liara said, eyes and weapon still locked on the Spectre.

"You've had a rough day, so I'll let that slide." Vasir's voice was calm, but took a few steps back as Liara advanced towards her. "Why don't you put that gun down?"

"I saw you!" Liara spat. "I doubled back after I left. I watched you break into my apartment!"

Suddenly it all started to fall into place. The sloppy attack, the seemly random appearance of a council Spectre, the goons in the building. I brought my own rifle to bear on Vasir. "You didn't know where Liara went, because she hid the message. You needed me to find it for you."

For a second it seemed like Vasir would deny it, then she shrugged and smirked. "Thanks for the help."

Liara continued the chain of logic. "Once she had my location, she signaled the Shadow Broker's forces. They bombed the building to take me out. She found Sekat, took his data, and killed him. I'm guessing she's still got the disk on her."

"Good guess." Vasir turned over one of her hands, revealing the data disk. "Not that you'll ever see what's on it, you pureblood bitch!" Her mocking tone turned vicious with the last few words and her body flared with biotic energy. Too late I realized showing us the disk had been cover to keep us from noticing her other hand slipping behind her back. She flung it towards us now, energy outlining her spread fingers. Behind her, the office window shattered into dozens of glass daggers that shot towards us.

Liara dropped to one knee, her own hand flaring with light and a biotic bubble expanded around us, deflecting and destroying the incoming shards. The attack too had been a distraction though, and as Liara threw up her barrier, Vasir turned and sprinted towards the now open window. Fire flared in my chest. All the fear and concern I'd felt about Liara being in danger boiling up and consuming I wasn't going to let her get away that easily. I took off after her, rushing out of Liara's protective bubble, letting my shields deal with the last few flying shards of glass. It didn't work perfectly, shields were designed to counter hyper fast projectiles, not relatively slow and heavy ones, and one of the pieces sliced a thin line of fire along one cheek before I got through them. I didn't care though.

I caught Vasir just as she reached the window, and leapt. My tackle took her around the waist, and we both crashed onto the windowsill. I hadn't really thought this through. The remnants of the window shattered, and our combined momentum carried us over the edge. There was nothing to stop us. I tried to wrestle the disk from her as we fell, but she was good. She twisted in my grip, rolling us so I was between her and the ground, then flared her biotics. The trick slammed my back into the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of me, and slowed her down enough to let her land delicately on the floor next to me. I groaned, struggling to drawn in breath, and watched helplessly as Vasir gathered more energy into her clenched fist. This was going to hurt.

A shout from above drew both of our attention, and we looked up in time to see Liara leap out of the window, wreathed in sapphire energy. Vasir swore, glared down at me, and took off. Liara's biotics let her control her decent, and she landed as lightly as Vasir had. She looked after Vasir, then down at me, clearly conflicted.

"Go." I croaked, waving her after the escaping Spectre. She nodded, and sprinted off. I dragged in another breath, wincing at the pain, then rolled over so I could get my hands under me. With a snarl I shoved myself to my feet. I wasn't going to let something like a three story fall stop me. By the time I was vertical, Vasir had almost made it to the stairs to the lower level, Liara hot on her heels. I brought my rifle up as I started after them, firing off a trio of shots in an attempt to force her to stop. My shots went wild. Vasir vaulted over a planter and disappeared down the stairs. Any doubts I'd had about who's team she was on vanished as two more of the mercenaries ran out of the stairs, interposing themselves between Vasir and Liara. Without slowing, my lover flattened them with a pair of rapid botic strikes and disappeared after Vasir.

I was almost to the stairs myself when another fucking group of goons came charging out of a different door. Fuck! I did not have time for this bullshit. Reaching to my belt I grabbed my pilfered flashbangs and hurled them at the new group. The newcomers hadn't had time to spread out yet, and the grenades staggered them, buying me time to trigger an adrenaline rush. Cerberus had done their best to put me back together exactly the way I'd been, but apparently there had been a lot of damage. I'd been left with more than a couple of cybernetic bits and pieces. For the most part, they didn't really affect any part of my life, but I'd learned a few new tricks I could pull with them. For example, the cybernetic system that helped to regulate my body's hormones could also be used to flood my system with adrenaline.

Time seemed to slow, and it felt like I had forever to line up my shots, putting a pair of shots into each target's head. I dropped four of the attackers before the effects of the rush wore off. The remaining two tried to dive for cover, but they never made it. I took the first one with the last of my thermal clip, and caught the last one with a concussive shot just before they got behind a planter. The whole fight took only a few seconds, and I was through the arch and heading down the stairs before my ejected thermal clip finished bouncing.

The entrance lobby hadn't been in good shape when I first went through it, now it looked like a warzone. Another handful of mercancies were scattered around the room, all of them injured and only now picking their way back to their feet. They must have been a second team meant to cover Vasir's escape. Apparently Liara had blown her way through them the same way she had the two guarding the stairs. Slowing, I put them out of their misery. Two managed to get shots off before they died, and one was able to limp out a nearby door, abandoning their weapon in the process. I let them run, there wasn't time. From the landing pad, a handful of shots punctuated that thought. I skidded out the same door I'd used to enter the building, looking around desperately for Liara. Vasir was a Spectre, if those shots had been hers…

I spotted her directly ahead of me, hunkered down behind an air-taxi. As I watched she edged around the corner to get a look, then whipped her head back as a pair of shots punched holes in the air-car's hood. Vasir had apparently run out of room to run. She'd taken up a shooting position a few cars further down, her back to the edge of the landing pad, and the hundred meter drop on the other side. She wasn't giving up though. Any time Liara tried to My first instinct was to leap to Liara's aid, but I quashed it. She had acceptable cover for now, and Vasir wasn't going anywhere. If I attacked now, I'd be shooting through the same cover Liara was. I needed to get around to the side, where the car's wouldn't be giving Vasir any protection and we could force her to surrender. And we needed her to surrender. Whatever was on that data disk was apparently important enough to kill for, and I didn't want to risk destroying it with excessive force. That was probably why Liara hadn't just shoved the car she was hiding behind off the pad.

I broke to the side, working my way into a flanking position. Vasir saw me and sent a handful of shots my way, but Liara's return fire forced her back into cover. One of the shots clipped my shield, but that was it. Vasir was screwed, and she had to know it. She didn't have anyway to go and-

A sleek golden air-car blasted overhead before banking low and disappearing behind the landing pad, its hatch opening as it did. Fuck! That was Vasir's car! She must have called it remotely. That meant she was going to- Vasir broke from cover, flinging herself over safety railing and off the side of the pad. Liara and I both snapped off reflex shots, but it was so much wasted effort. Vasir disappeared over the edge, a second later her car rocketed away from us.

Desperately I swept my gaze over the pad, looking for anything I could use to stop her. Liara was already way ahead of me. She'd pulled open the door of the Taxi she'd been using for cover and was already working on bypassing the chauffeur VI. By the time I ran over, she'd cracked it. She climbed over to the passenger seat, and I slid in behind the controls.

"I'm fine by the way," I said as I keyed the door closed.

She leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. "I knew you would be. Thanks for coming to save me."

"Always." I shoved the accelerator forward, eliciting a warning beep from the impotent VI and took off after Vasir's rapidly diminishing car. With her head start, it would be hard to catch up to her in this piece of junk. Thankfully traffic and the city layout meant that she couldn't just floor it, but that was a two edged sword. If she was able to lose us for more than a few seconds, she'd disappear. I needed another option, something that would slow her down, let us catch up to her. An idea hit me, and I keyed my comm.

"Miranda, Vasir is the assassin. She's trying to escape in an air car. We're in pursuit. I need you to cut her off."

There was only a moment's hesitation on the other end. "We're on our way. EDI's is trying to find you on the traffic feeds. Where are you?"

Ahead of us Vasir whipped around the edge of a building, and I had to throw our car it to sharp turn to keep her in sight. The turn took us into a tunnel built into one of Illium's towering skyscrapers and directly into oncoming traffic. I swore and juked out of the way of the first car, then ducked under the next, weaving my way through the oncoming maelstrom. Ahead of us I caught glimpses of Vasir, doing the same thing we were. I also saw something else, a street sign.

"Just about to come out on Hesparas Street." I told Miranda, hoping that was enough of a clue for EDI to find us.

Apparently it was. "EDI has you, changing course now. What kind of weapons you have on that thing?"

I threw a quick glance over the control panel. "Um…"

Liara cut in, her voice dry. "It's a Taxi. It has a fare meter."

"We're unarmed." I

Miranda swore. "So are we. We'll have her in sight in a few moments, but I'm not sure what we can do without weapons."

"Samara could throw Grunt at her." I suggested, only mostly kidding. She was right. Without guns, there wasn't a whole lot we could do besides keep up with her.

"I'm not sure even Grunt could survive the fall if she missed." Miranda sounded about as serious as I had. "Maybe if I-"

"On it, Shep." A new voice cut into the circuit. "There's a service tunnel ahead of you, force her in there and we'll do the rest."

"Kasumi?" I asked incredulously.

"Yup." Came the perky reply. "EDI patched me in, all done with your little errand and I have a present for you." I felt a smile stretch my lips. Perfect.

"Vasir has a data disk we need." I told Kasumi. "Disable her car."

"No problem, Commander." That wasn't Kasumi, it was Jacob. "We'll force her down."

Ahead of us, Vasir dove towards another tunnel entrance, only to break off at the last moment as Miranda's shuttle came rocketing out of it and cut her off. The air-car wobbled for a few seconds as she fought to regain control, then shot off again, directly into the mouth of the service tunnel. Miranda's interception had bought me time to close the distance, and we were both only a few seconds behind her going in. Which meant we got front row seats to what happened next.

The sleek form of a A-61 Mantis gunship rose into view a couple hundred meters past the far end of the tunnel, blocking it. Vasir saw it, and tried to swerve out of the way, but her sudden turn to dodge Miranda had stolen most of her speed from her, and she wasn't fast enough. Jacob opened up with the nose canon, and heavy rounds tore into the back of the unarmored air-car, savaging her engine. Her swerve turned into an uncontrolled spiral, that ended in a bouncing skid into a wall. The gunship swept forward, hovering a couple dozen meters away from the crash site. I brought our taxi down in a much more controlled fashion, and Liara and I got out. She threw a glance up at the hovering gunship, and quirked an eyebrow at me. I shrugged.

"I was getting tired of everybody else always having air support. So I sent Kasumi out shopping."

"I see." I wasn't sure if she was amused, or exasperated. "Can't argue with the results, I suppose."

With a hiss, the cabin of Vasir's car popped open. In a second we both had our guns up and pointed at the Spectre as she stumbled out of the wreck. She looked bad. Even a relatively low velocity crash like that had to hurt. Her armor was cracked in a dozen places, and in the harsh spotlight I could see blood leaking from a few of them. She was one hard ass bitch though. Even in obvious pain, she straightened, glaring at us.

"You're dead." She growled. "The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades. He's stronger than anything you've ever faced."

"Is that why you tried to kill me?" Liara spat.

Vasir spat blood to the side. "Get over yourself. The Broker's given me damn good intel over the years. Intel that saved lives and kept the Citadel safe! So if the Broker needs a few people to disappear, I'll pay that price without hesitation."

"Even if it means blowing up a building filled with innocent people?" Liara's voice dripped with contempt. "Spectres don't do that."

Vasir voice took on a scornful, mocking air. "Sure we do. We get our hands dirty so the Council doesn't have to. A counselor might complain about our methods, but they don't care, not really." She looked at me. "You know the score. We do what we have to do to get the job done, and we work with who we have to."

She had a point. Spectre's were authorized to do whatever they found necessary to complete their mission. The only thing that mattered was results. It was why I was working with Cerberus after all. The ends justify the means. In her place I'd have done the same thing. The Shadow Broker was a powerful ally, especially for a Spectre. If his price was bumping off a few nosey rivals, that really wasn't asking too much.

"Here." Vasir reached down to her belt on the opposite side from her pistol, keeping her weapon hand in the air the whole time, and withdrew the data disk. "You beat me, fair and square." With a flick she tossed the disk to me. "No reason we can't still be friends."

She was right about that too. Vasir was clearly tough, clearly competent, and a Spectre to boot. Clearly she was willing to bend Council guidelines and mandates to get her mission done. She was exactly the kind of ally I'd need in the coming months. My plans would likely take me further and further out of the Council's good graces, and a contact in that elite organization would be invaluable. Not to mention the other activities she'd alluded to.

"You think we're just going to let you walk?" Liara scoffed. "You tried to kill me."

Vasir threw her a smile. "It wasn't personal."

"And that matters?"

Vasir shrugged. "Kinda, yeah. I'm not going to keep coming after you." She shifted her weight and winced. "Especially not like this. I can't promise the Broker won't send more people after you, in fact they almost certainly will. But I won't be one of them." She started to turn away. "See you around, Shepard. I'll call you when I'm healed up, see if we can't set up that hotel room." She blew me a kiss, then started to limp towards the nearest door into the building.

I shot her. The round tore into the back of her head and she dropped without a sound. Behind me I heard a sharp intake of breath. I turned to find Miranda and her team standing a few meters behind us. She looked at me, then at the body, and back at me. "Why?"

I pushed past her, heading for our stolen taxi. "She attacked one of my people."

Miranda stepped aside, expression pensive, and I climbed into the taxi. All of this commotion was sure to have gotten the attention of the local security forces. They'd be here soon, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with their questions right now. Liara climbed into the passenger seat and I looked up at Miranda. "I'm taking Liara back to her apartment to grab anything she needs, then bringing her to the Normandy. Make whatever security arrangements you feel are appropriate before we get back. And have EDI pull every copy of the security footage for this tunnel and the trade center. Then send it all to the local authorities. Tell her I want it to be clear we acted in self defense."

Miranda looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't, and nodded. I closed the door and took off. EDI could handle the data job, and Miranda would clean up anything the AI missed. Right now the important thing was to get away from the scene of the crime until they could handle it. As we rose, I keyed my comm and thanked Jacob and Kasumi for their assistance. They offered to fly escort back to Liara's apartment, but I turned them down, ordering them back to the Normandy instead. I wanted that gunship in storage before whoever Kasumi had taken it from traced it back to us.

Once we'd cleared the area and were back in the normal traffic flow, I put the car on autopilot and turned to Liara. She'd linked the disc with her omnitool and was busy pouring over the data. I put a hand on her arm and she jerked, looking up at me a bit sheepishly. I gave her an inquisitive smile. "You ok?"

A haunted expression crossed her face for a second, but she nodded. "Yes. I was worried for a while there, but it worked out in the end." She waggled her omnitool a little. "This is everything I need."

"Everything you need for what?" I asked, a little exasperated. Liara had always been focused on whatever she was doing, but this was a bit much. "You still haven't told me what the data is for, just that it's important."

"Didn't I?" She asked, sounding genuinely surprised. Her eyes flicked back and forth for a moment, sifting through her memories, then she blushed. "I guess I haven't. Remember when I said I had things to do? Debts to repay?" I nodded. "Well, when I went after your body for Cerberus, I had help. A Drell named Feron. He helped me get you away from the Shadow Broker agents who were going to trade you to the Collectors. We got you away, but he was captured. I've been looking for him ever since. This is the last piece of the puzzle. With this data I can find the Broker's base. And with your help we can rescue Feron!"

I sat back, absorbing all it for a second. The Collectors had been after my body? And the Shadow Broker had been willing to give it to them? That raised a whole bunch of new questions, all of which needed answers, and all of which were pushed to the side by another thing Liara had said. "Who's Feron?" I asked.

"He's a friend." She said, then caught my expression and hastened to add, "Only a friend. Like I told you before, there hasn't been anybody else that way." Her tone grew more serious. "But he is a friend, and he got captured because I screwed up. You taught me that we don't abandon our people, Shepard, and I won't abandon him."

She was right, I had taught her that. Loyalty mattered. It was the only thing that really mattered, and if Liara was determined to go to this Drell's rescue, I'd make sure it happened. "What do you need from me?"

That brought a small smile. "Thank you." She closed her eyes for a second and drew in a deep breath, then blew it out. "Ok. This data gives me a way to find the base. I want your help breaking him out."

"The _Normandy_ isn't going anywhere for a least a week." I reminded her.

She waved a hand. "Not a problem, we'll take my ship. It's small though, only has room for six or so. And I'd rather not bring anybody I don't trust completely." She thought for a moment. "Call Garrus and Tali, have them meet us at dock 58 in one hour. I'll call my pilot."

I gave her an amused look, but did as she asked. Liara certainly had changed since I pulled her off Therum. I liked the new confidence, it looked good on her. Garrus didn't pick up, but Tali did. She sounded tired and a little distracted, I wondered if I'd interrupted something. She came fully awake as I explained the situation though, and she agreed to meet us at the dock, promising to bring Garrus with her. We signed off and I looked at Liara as she finished her call.

"Yes, get the ship ready for take off, then meet my at the coordinates I just sent you for pick up." Her tone was commanding, and I caught hints of my own command voice in it. She listened to a response, nodded, then said. "Thank you, Crystal, we'll be at the pick up point in fifteen minutes."

"Pick up point?" I asked as she signed off. "We aren't going straight to your ship?"

She looked pointedly at the fare meter. "I'd rather not fly into the dock in a stolen taxi."

"Commandeered." I scoffed. "I'm a Spectre, I can commandeer anything I want."

That got a chuckle from her. "All the same." She sent a new destination to the autopilot. "Probably best to avoid having to explain that to the port authorities."

I conceded the point. The autopilot blinked, then updated its estimated time of arrival for the new destination. For a few seconds we lapsed into silence, Liara reading over the data again, and me trying to stretch out the tension in my back from that tumble out the window. Even with the armor and shields, I was going to feel that in the morning, and I did what I could in the cramped space to loosen the muscles.

"Thank you, Shepard." Liara's voice was quiet, and I turned to look at her. Her posture had sagged, losing the air of authority and confidence she'd had while we planned.

"For what?" I asked. "You knew I'd come after you."

"For saving me, again. For trusting me when I accused Vasir. For not letting that bitch get away with killing all those people. I know what kind of asset she could have been, and I saw the way you looked at her. It means a lot that you didn't let her walk."

I cupped her cheek. "Of course, Liara. I will never let anything happen to you, you know that. And there was never any question. Vasir went after one of mine. She went after you. Nobody

gets to walk after that."

"My hero." She pushed out of her seat and kissed me. It wasn't a long kiss, but neither was it rushed. When she pulled away her eyes were shining and a bit of her confidence had returned. "When all this is over, I'll be sure to thank you properly."

We ditched the taxi in a hotel lot. Liara led me into the building, under a sign proclaiming it to be the Azure. Inside, the lobby was decorated in what I could only describe as tasteful tastelessness. The staff walked around in stylized version of Asari dancer outfits, screens scattered around the room displayed images and videos of some of those same staff in action, putting their outfits to their original intended uses. As we passed one door, it opened to admit a pudgy man, flanked on either side by laughing Asari, his hands around their waists. I lifted a quizzical eyebrow to Liara. Her answering smile walked the line between sheepish and impish. "It's a luxury resort with a more… exotic edge. Azure is slang for a particular part of the asari body in some parts of Illium."

"Where?" I asked.

"Mainly the lower regions, near the bottom."

"I meant where on the asari body?"

She winked at me. "So did I"

"Ah." I leered back. "I thought you said the reward came after we'd completed the mission?"

"I did. Through here." She motioned me through a door marked employees only, and out into a narrow alley. "I have a few contacts in the staff. This landing pad is used by guests hoping to remain discreet."

Our ride was already waiting for us as we emerged from the alley, a pink skinned asari standing respectfully next to it. Pink was a fairly unusual color, and something about her sparked a memory. I frowned, trying to pin the memory down. Liara noticed my expression. "Shepard?"

"That isn't your old assistant."

Liara's voice turned grim. "No. Nyxeris had an unfortunate conflict of loyalty. That data tap Tali helped me with revealed she was working for the Shadow Broker. I had to terminate her. Crystal there is one of my field agents, also my pilot and bodyguard for when I need to go off world."

"You've really been going after the Broker for a while then."

"Two years, and now it ends. One way or another, its over after this."

I nodded, and we boarded the air-car.


	19. Chapter 18

Liara's ship turned out to be a decommissioned Asari Corvette. According to her, it had been a test case for a new design philosophy centered around smaller, stealthier ships. It hadn't proved as cost effective as the designers had predicted, and the Asari government elected not to move forward with the design. The ship saw service for a few decades, but eventually they let it go. Liara's contacts told her about the sale, and she picked it up before it hit the open market. It wasn't on the Normandy' s level in terms of pure stealth, but even its antiquated systems were better than most modern civilian ships had, and it was fast. It took us just over twenty hours to get from Illium to Hagalaz, the planet where the Broker had set up his base. Liara spent almost the entire time decrypting the rest of Sekat's data, while Garrus, Tali and I mostly sat around twiddling our thumbs. Or at least, I did. Garrus and Tali spent most of the trip in their cabin. I wanted to do the same with Liara, but she was in researcher mode, and right now that intel was the important thing. So I endured, spent some time chatting with Crystal, and mostly waited for Liara to do her thing. It paid off though.

Sekat's data gave us everything we needed. Hagalaz was a hell hole, with temperatures and weather extremes so violent they caused a constant storm along the day/night line. Naturally, that's where the Broker's ship was, using the storm as cover as it worked its endless way around the planet. I had to hand it to him, it was clever. Without knowing exactly where to look, it would have taken forever to find a ship in that mess. Unfortunately for him, we did know, and within minutes we were on him. The next problem was getting into the ship. Without the access codes, we couldn't open the landing bays. That meant landing on the exterior of the ship and finding our own way in. Naturally, the Broker's troops tried to stop us, and I found myself leading an assault across the surface of a ship in the middle of a thunderstorm. That was a new one, even for me, simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. Rods built into the hull redirected the frequent lightning strikes into capacitors that an errant shot could cause to explode in crackling fury, electrocuting anybody near them. What was more, the winds were so strong that anybody more than a few meters from the hull would be caught up in them and hurled, screaming, into the storm. It was a battlefield unlike any other I'd ever fought on, and I took ruthless advantage of it. Liara's biotics sent dozens into the storm, and Garrus's precise sniper fire detonated capacitors with expert timing, frying whole teams as they tried to get into position to block us. The Broker's guys fought valiantly, but it wasn't enough, and eventually, we found an entry hatch. It had security. We had Tali. We got in.

Being inside didn't stop the Broker's troops from throwing themselves at us, but now the terrain worked in our favor, funneling the soldiers into narrow passageways where their greater numbers couldn't help them. That didn't stop them trying, and we carved a bloody path through the ship until we found Feron. Unfortunately that just added a new problem. The Broker was a sadistic son of a bitch. He'd hooked the Drell up to some sort of data processing machine, surrounding him with info screens and medical equipment. From what we could gather, the point of the contraption was to use the drell as a shunt for excess data or energy from the broker's network. Power surged through the cables at uneven intervals, sending massive jolts into Feron. It was brutal. The medical equipment ensured that the shocks were never lethal, keeping him awake and aware. My first instinct was to just pull him out of the chair, haul him away from the machines and hope for the best, but Liara, Tali and Feron all stopped me. In a pained voice, Feron explained that removing him while the system was active would kill him, and that the only way to shut the system down was from the Broker's control room. His explanation was liberally interspersed with groans and screams as the contraption sent wave after wave of power through him, but he toughed it out, giving us directions to the control room even as he was tortured. It was commendable, and I felt my anger towards the Broker growing with each fragmented sentence.

Just a few days ago, I wouldn't really have cared about taking the Broker down. Hell, up until the day before yesterday I'd have happily done business with the man. But that was in the past. He'd sent a full on Spectre after one of my people. On top of that, he'd apparently been willing to trade my body to the Collectors in exchange for who knows what. I took that kind of thing personally. And If this was the kind of punishment the Broker meted out for his people, then that was just another reason to take him down. Torture like this served no purpose beyond causing pain, and I couldn't abide that sort of thing. I wasn't a saint, I'd hurt people, killed people, and worse, but I'd always had a reason. This contraption wasn't meant to get information from its victim. It didn't send a message. It was petty, wasteful, and cruel, and I wouldn't permit it go on.

The control room wasn't far, just a few corridors further in through yet another of the Broker's hit squads. They'd known we were coming and set up a last ditch defense in front of the control room doors. Almost a dozen of them took cover behind bulkheads and hatch frames, giving them plenty of cover and forcing us to come to them. It was a good position, and against another team it might have worked. Against us though… Liara dropped a singularity right in the middle of their formation. The micro black hole lashed at the defenders, wrenching at them, tugging them out of position. Garrus and I laid into them; shooting shoulders, arms, legs, anything that came out of cover, battering down their shields so the singularity could get a stronger hold on them and drag them completely into the open where Tali's heavy pistol finished the job. A few of them got shots off, one even sent a rocket screaming past us, but it wasn't enough. In less than a minute they were all dead, and the way to the Shadow Broker's lair was finally clear.

We went through the door in a rush, Garrus and Tali fanning out to either side, Liara and I moving straight down the middle. All four of us had our weapons up, and in unison we all pointed them at the shadowy figure behind an expansive desk. There'd been a fair bit of discussion on the trip in about just who or what the Shadow Broker was. We actually had a bet going. Garrus's money was on an Asari, and Tali had thrown her money behind it being a group of Salarians. My own guess had been Volus. We'd been wrong. All of us. The figure behind the desk was cloaked in shadows so deep it was impossible to make out more than an outline, but even an outline was enough to tell me they were big. This wasn't an Asair, or Salarian, and it definitely wasn't a Volus. Whatever was behind that desk was built along the same scale as a YMIR mech. Massive shoulders rolled as it rested its elbows on its desk, fingers steepling. The voice that growled out from the depths of the shadows matched the figure's size but was surprisingly relaxed and uninflected.

"You've come for the Drell." It was a statement, not a question. "Reckless, even for you, Shepard."

I flicked my head at Garrus and he started to move further along the wall, Tali mirroring him on my other side. I took a few more steps towards the Broker. "I wouldn't say reckless, just determined. Ask your Spectre about that."

"Vasir was expendable. Her death cost me nothing but time."

"Expendable like Feron was expendable?" Liara spat. She'd kept pace with me as I advanced, but now she took a step past me, her pistol rock steady.

The shadows moved as the Broker shifted his attention to Liara. "Dr. T'soni, your interference caused all this. Feron betrayed me when he gave you Shepard's body. He is merely paying the price."

Liara opened her mouth to say something, but I cut in. "Laying it on a little thick don't you think? The shadows are a bit much. I mean, sure, they fit the name, but it's just a bit on the nose isn't it?"

"Expectation and perception are important. You know this, Shepard. I know your history. I know your present. You play at being the hero, but this is not the case. All your secrets are bare before me. T'Soni's attempts to hide your plans have only-"

I flicked on my omni-tool's flashlight, sending a spear of illumination into the darkness. Light washed over the figure, cutting them off mid-sentence. The Broker looked like something out of a nightmare. Just as massive as his outline had suggested, and it only got worse from there. The head was as big as my chest, covered in red caprice that rose into a pair of jet back horns, each as thick around as my circled thumb and forefinger. A triangular mouth bristling with asymmetric fangs split the lower part of its face, and eight bright, intelligent eyes glowered out at me from sunken recesses within the carapace. Those eyes blinked at the sudden light, then narrowed. "That was rather rude, Commander."

It took me a second to recover my voice. I wasn't scared, just startled; I'd never seen a creature like this, and to the best of my knowledge neither had the rest of the galaxy. Regaining my composure, I gave the Broker my own best scowl. "I didn't come here to fuck around or trade cryptic threats, so let's cut the bullshit."

The creature shook its head in what might have been irritation, or disappointment. "If you insist, Shepard. I know why you've really come. I will not release Feron to you. His situation is the result of his own actions, and he will pay the price. But you don't really care about the Drell. Your concern is honoring your commitment to T'Soni. It is an admirable effort. I will make you a deal. I will allow you to leave. I will even give you all the information I have about the Collectors. In exchange, you will give me T'Soni. She has been a thorn in my side too long for me to let her live. Fear not though, I will replace her. I have a multitude of contacts with Batarian slaver groups. You may take your pick of their stock, and I will see to it they are delivered to the Normandy by the time you arrive back on Illium. Furthermore, if you would be willing to deliver a complete copy of the Cerberus database onboard your ship to my representatives, I will assist you in replacing the Illusive Man as that organization's head. With that database, and the information already within my possession, I am confident I can pinpoint his location in less than a week. As I said, Shepard. I know your plans. I know you intend to stop what is coming, and I know the lengths you are prepared to go to do it. Give me what I ask for, and I will aid you in that fight. My resources far outstrip your own. This would be a most profitable alliance, for both of us."

That was a tempting offer, and unlike Vasir, he could actually make good on it. The Shadow Broker was a political power on par with most of the galaxies governments. Liara had done well in her preparations, but she didn't begin have the resources and contacts the he had. He could give me access to politicians, CEOs, admirals, all the people I'd need to convince to join me in stopping the Reapers. His support could shave years off my plans, years the galaxy might not have to spare. Throwing away his offer, shutting the door on all those assets, would be one of the single stupidest things I could do.

Trusting him would be even worse. This creature might present itself as a calm, civilized businessman, but it was a lie. He'd made his stance on allies and subordinates extremely clear when he dismissed Vasir. I had no doubt he'd work with me as long as it was advantageous, but that wouldn't stop him from selling me out the second it became profitable to do it. Besides, he wanted Liara dead, that was unacceptable. She wasn't a replaceable asset. Liara trusted me, believed in me and my mission enough to still be making preparations even after I'd died. And if the Broker thought I would, then this son of a bitch didn't know me the way he thought he did.

"I'll make you a counter offer." I said, rifle shifting to point right in the middle of all those unsettling eyes. "Release Feron. Give me any information you have about Cerberus, the Collectors, and the Reapers. Do that, and you live. Make me work for it, and you die. Slowly."

"Unfortunate." The Broker spread hands the size of my head in a 'what can I do' sort of gesture. "I'd have preferred not to kill you. However, the Collectors's offer still stands, so your death can still be profitable." His hands disappeared beneath the desk, and I pulled the trigger. I was a second too slow.

The Broker lifted the massive desk like it was nothing, blocked my first few shots with it, then with a roar, threw the fucking thing at me. I dove to the side, narrowly avoiding getting crushed. Liara darted the other way, already firing. Her submachine gun spat a torrent of hypersonic rounds, each one finding its mark. Shields flared around the Broker, absorbing the attacks, and he laughed. His left fist clenched, and an omni-shield sprang into life along that arm. In his other hand he clutched an M-76 Revenant, holding the oversized rifle as if it were a pistol. That was concerning. The M-76 fired rounds around the same size as my Mattock, but at about 700 rounds a minute. Just keeping the damn thing on target took massive effort, and this beast was wielding it in one fucking hand!

The broker brought that monster gun to bear on Liara, sending a hurricane of death tearing at her, forcing her to retreat behind a support column. I returned fire, but the Broker interposed his omni-shield, and my shots did nothing. Before my assignment to the original Normandy , I'd been part of a team that had helped evaluate that particular technology. The silicon-carbide surface was strong enough to stop even heavy caliber sniper fire, but they didn't do a great job stopping the kinetic energy, and a shot could still knock a soldier off his feet. Backed by the Broker's pure mass though, it became an almost impenetrable defense. Unfortunately for him, it was a defense that could only point one way.

Even as his aim shifted towards me. Garrus and Tali joined the fight. Garrus had swapped to his assault rifle when we'd entered the ship, and now he laid into the Broker, chewing away at his shields with full auto fury. From his other flank, Tali's shotgun roared, smashing blast after blast into the Broker's arm and shoulder. Her attack pushed the omni-shield out of position, I used the opening to drill a pair of shots past the shield and into the fucker's face. He flinched at the impacts and tried to shift the shield back into position, but it was a losing battle. His defenses were tough, and against any single attacker, or even one direction of attack, he'd probably have been able to hold out long enough for that massive gun to cut us to shreds. We didn't give him that chance. His return fire forced me back behind cover, but Garrus and Tali kept hammering him, moving further into the room as they did. He was caught between us, taking fire from three directions. Unless he did something soon, he was fucked, and he knew it. With a roar that shook the room, he abandoned his attack on me to whirl and charge towards Tali. Her shotgun answered his roar with one of its own, but the Broker had his shield up, and he shrugged off the impact of the heavy blast, thundering towards her like a runaway air-car. Garrus and I both poured fired into his exposed back and side, but his body shields absorbed the impacts, fraying under our combined assault but not down yet. His plan was obvious, accept that he was going to take some damage, but crush one flank of our attack. If he eliminated Tali fast enough, he could have that fucking omni-shield back in position before we could deal lethal amounts of damage. And there wasn't a thing I could do about it. Tali's flanking maneuver had pinned her between the onrushing broker and the bulkhead.

With a final defiant blast of her shotgun, Tali threw herself to the side, scrambling to get out of the way the beast barreling towards her, but that beast was massive. His bulk blotted out most of my view of what was about to happen, and with a triumphant bellow, he brought the shield up to smash Tali. Then the Broker's desk whipped past me, wreathed in biotic energy, and smashed into the Broker. The attack caught him full on, bashing him to the side and sending all of his crushing momentum past Tali and into the bulkhead behind her. He rebounded, shaking his massive head, clearly dazed. From the ground next to him, a surprised Tali worked through her own shock at not being crushed to shove her shotgun against the Broker's exposed gut. Her shot sent him staggering away from her, and directly into the concussive shot Garrus sent rocketing towards him. Again he slammed back into the bulkhead, and this time as he pushed of from it, I could see the dents the repeated impacts had left in the metal. More importantly, I also saw the sparking flare as his body shield finally failed. Liara must have seen it too, because as soon as his defenses dropped, she reached out with a glowing hand, made a fist, and jerked it towards herself. Sapphire energy engulfed the Broker, wrenching him off his feet and dragging him towards her until he floated less than a meter away from her. She held him there, cocooned in light, hovering half a meter off the deck.

After a few moments his impotent struggles stopped, and he glared down at Liara. "You believe you have beaten me, T'Soni, but you are wrong. My agents will continue to hunt you, even if you kill me. They will find you wherever you run. I know all of your hiding places. I know your every secret, while you still fumble around in the dark. Release me, or I will -"

Liara cut him off, voice cold. "I know more than you think. I know you're a yahg. A pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Council's first contact teams. I'm guessing you were taken off your planet by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave… or a pet. How am I doing?" Her words sent a visible shiver of rage through the captive Broker, but he remained silent, all eight eyes glaring death down on my lover. She grinned. "Did I hit a nerve? Let me tell you what else I know. I've found records of the Shadow Broker's activity going back more than a century. Your homeworld was discovered sixty years ago. I'm guessing that you killed the previous broker and took their place. And if you can do it…" She let the biotic field drop, sending the Broker crashing to the deck. He landed badly, dropping to hands a knee, but recovered quickly and surged towards her, mouth splitting open into a triangular nightmare of teeth. "So can I."

Her first shot caught him in his open mouth, turning his impending roar into gurgling ruin. Her second shot blew a hole in the bony crest above his mouth. And her third shot punched a red hole directly between his upper row of eyes, blowing out the back of his head. The body's momentum carried it towards her and she neatly side stepped it, putting two more shots in the back of its head as it tumbled past, about a millisecond before Garrus and my snapshots blew their own chunks out of the skull. Liara ejected the thermal clip from her pistol, slotted in a fresh one, then looked up at us. Her expression couldn't have been called a smile, but it had a certain degree of contentment to it. "Well, that's done."

"I guess so." I looked from her to the hulking corpse at her feet. "How are you doing?"

She looked down at her hands, they were trembling. "I don't… It's been two years, I've…" Her eyes flared and she looked around wildly. "Oh no, Feron. We have to find the master control. We have to get him out of there."

We spread out. The solution ended up being surprisingly easy. The mass of shadows behind where the Broker's desk had been concealed a massive data terminal. Liara tapped a key experimentally and the system flared to life, twenty individual screens showing us a riot of different subjects: Financial data from three different systems, a view of what might have been a lecture hall or political event, something that looked remarkably like helmet cam footage, and over a dozen other images, all of them in real time. The sheer amount of data presented was staggering, and it took me a few seconds just to take it all in. Liara though, glanced over it once, then returned her attention to the controls.

"There." She tapped a control and the screens blanked, the entire system going dark.

I whirled on her. "What did you do?"

She gave me a reassuring smile. "System reset, should give Feron the chance he needs to get out of that machine."

I looked at her, then back at Garrus and Tali, that latter of whom was prodding at the Broker's body with her shotgun. "Go make sure he's alright, and escort him back here."

They nodded, and headed out. I returned my attention to Liara. "So now what?"

"Now we wait…" She waved a hand at the dark terminal. "There are no safeguards, no passwords, nothing. Its like he never anticipated anybody would ever make it here."

I was speechless. The entire Shadow Broker network, a political weapon so powerful that even the Citadel Council respected it, sat completely bare before us. My mouth went dry, and it took me a couple of tries to say anything. "Do we..? Can we..?" I cleared my throat and tried again. "Do we have the storage space on your ship to clone the data?"

Liara gave me an amused look. "We don't need to clone the data, love. The Broker only works through agents. Nobody in the galaxy knows who or what they are. We killed him, but the only people who knows that is us." She looked down at the corpse. "I believe there is a human saying: The king is dead." Her eyes flicked back up to mine. "Long live the king."

Shivers ran down my spine, and for a moment my mind exploded with ideas and possibilities. They swarmed around inside my head, and I almost had to reach out to steady myself. Then one idea in particular eclipsed the others and hung burning before me. "No," I said, reaching out to take Liara's hands, "long live the Queen."

Understanding blossomed in her eyes, and slowly she started to nod. "It's basically what I've been doing already. And it would mean you can keep running around the galaxy stopping the Collectors." Her excitement dimmed at bit at that. I stepped close and wrapped my arms around her waist.

"You could come with me." I said.

"No." She gave me a sad smile. "I can't. Especially not if I'm going to do this. But, we can visit." She glanced around the console as lights started to blink back on. "And I'll be watching you."

I grinned. "That you will." I kissed her. it was supposed to be a slow, soft kiss, but as the reality of what we'd done, at what was now ours sank in, it got hotter. Liara was now the most powerful information broker the galaxy. A whisper from her could topple governments or ruin interstellar corporations. And she was mine. Her loyalty belonged to me. I pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Her lips parted, and our tongues played between them. Heat surged up through me, reigniting the embers I'd been suppressing from before I'd left to meet Liara at her apartment. My entire body thrummed with energy. She must have felt it too, because she pushed herself against me as if she could push past our armor and press her skin against mine.

Garrus's voice broke into the moment. "Shepard, we've found Feron. He's pretty banged up, but the stubborn son of a bitch was limping towards the shuttle pad. Do you want us to bring him back?"

Reluctantly I pulled my lips from Liara's. We were both breathing heavily, and I took a second to steady myself before touching my earbud. "No, bring him to the ship, it has a basic medical station. We're tying up loose ends here and will meet you there."

Either I didn't control my breathing well enough, or Garrus had been around me long enough to learn a thing or two, because I could hear the smirk in his voice as he answered. "Alright, be safe you two. See you soon."

As he signed off, I returned my attention to Liara. Still in my arms, she'd already started to unfasten my armor's quick release sections. I went to work on hers, intermittently stopping to exchange quick, blistering kisses as we pulled each other's clothes off. As soon as my codpiece dropped to the floor, her hand was on me, slipping under the body suit and stroking my hardness while I continued to work on her pants. Her fingers on my length felt incredible, teasing and tugging at me, spurring me to work faster. I growled into another kiss, nipping at her lower lip, then the fastener I'd been fighting with popped open. She pushed off my chest, opening the distance between us to step out of her pants. I didn't want to wait that long. I followed her, pressing myself against her again and pinning her to the terminal behind her. Her gasp of surprise turned into a squeak as I lifted her up and onto the terminal's controls. Multiple input safeguards stopped the action from causing any damage to the system.

She clearly got what I was going for, and brought her legs up far enough to pull her pants up to her raised knees, exposing her panties. I pressed myself against her, grinding my cock against her pussy. Even through the restraining fabric of my armor's body suit I could feel the heat from her. I dragged my length along her slit, hardness pressing between lips and rubbing against her clit. She moaned, and her fingers scrabbled at the waistband of the body suit until she managed to wrench it down. My exposed cock pressed against her panties, and now I could feel the wetness as well as her heat. Reaching down, I pulled the flimsy fabric aside and pressed forward. I'd misjudged the angle a bit in my excitement, and I had to drag my cock down through her pussy lips a bit, but even that felt incredible, and I shifted my hips until I could feel my head pushing into her. That small amount of contact was all I needed to set my lust into overdrive. I pushed forward, sinking myself deep inside Liara.

We both cried out as my cock entered her, the sounds bouncing around the cavernous office. They was soon joined by more, all of them echoing and mingling as I fucked her. My restraint was gone, and good fucking riddance to it. Liara moaned as my cock pounded her against the desk she'd soon use as the fucking Shadow Broker. I was fucking the fucking Shadow Broker! And she was fucking me back! The position wasn't ideal, her pants kept her legs from spreading too wide, and they pressed against my chest, blocking part of my view of her, but that didn't stop her bucking her hips back against me. There would be time for a more complete session later, one where we could take our time and really savor the moment, but that would be later. Right now was about one thing only, celebrating our victory, and claiming the power that was rightfully ours! So I didn't care about the awkward position, I didn't care about the pants pressed against my chest, or about the way my armor numbed my sense of touch, or even the way her panties rubbed against the side of my shaft as I thrust. All I cared about was the feel of her pussy wrapped around my cock, and the sounds of her cries as I fucked an orgasm out of my lovely, slutty, loyal new Shadow Broker. And orgasm she did, right there on the desk. I kept fucking her, pushing through her spasms towards my own climax, feeling it coming. I wanted to fill her up, wanted to shoot a load deep into this brave, beautiful, incredible woman that was doing so much for me and my mission.

Thinking about everything Liara had done for me, and all the new options she'd given me pushed me over the edge. My hips bucked against her, locking my spasming cock deep inside, holding it there as it flooded her pussy with heat. She moaned as I did, and the fingers that had been holding her panties aside moved to rub furiously at her clit. Her panting cries got faster as she did, hips bucking and thrust against me. The movement stroked my soft shaft, pulling muted pleasure along the length. I went with it, moving my own body in time with hers until her fingers and my semi-hard cock drove her to another shuddering orgasm. Her hips bucked, pussy tightening on me, and she let out a long contented moan. I waited a few seconds, enjoying the way she felt around me, then pulled out. A bit of our mixed cum came out with me, dripping onto the console surface, officially claiming the console and all it signified in my name. I laughed at the thought. Then stepped back and offered Liara a hand up, there was work to do.


End file.
